Hybrid
by YoungestCullen8
Summary: Leo hates traveling but he has to go with Yi Jeong to a series of meetings. When things go awry, he, Yi Jeong, and Hyuk have to learn to trust someone they just met. Alone and in another country, they only have one chance of survival. But their savior is so much more than she seems. R&R
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I have been writing on the beginning of this story since the beginning of last week. It has taken so long to get it up because have been busy and depressed. It isn't the kind of depression where I don't want to do anything. It's the kind where I don't want to write. It's been rough, but here is the beginning of this.

I took an extra long nap today and dreamed the rest of the first chapter and bits of the second. I had today and tomorrow off so I can work on at least four chapters. Maybe more, but don't expect too much. It's still in the beginning stages.

But this story is extra special for one simple name. The main female character is named after one of my teenagers who tragically lost her life a few months ago. The character doesn't have the same personality as her, but she has her name. That was a simple way I knew I could remember her.

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Leo watched as Baye and Jeongmin hustled their boys to the departure gate. They were going on an extended trip to New Zealand for a visit as well as business. They were going to be gone for nearly six months, the longest they had been away from their friends and pack.

Life had been good since the showdown with the wolves nearly two years ago. People had forgiven each other and the pack had expanded. They were now up to twenty-five wolves. Extra houses had to be purchased around the neighborhood for everyone to live together. So far it had gone well for so many people. They had a family now to back them up.

When the news of the summit had come down, Baye hadn't wasted any time in getting things ready for her family to leave. She had called her parents and had informed them of their stay. She had talked to the members of F4 about keeping an eye on the wolves while she was gone. She hadn't been nervous about them being alone, but they hadn't been separated for so long. The children (there were now six – Jae Mi, Jae Kyun, Jenissi's daughter Hyun Joo, Hansol's newborn Han Byul, Shin Woo who Ji Hoo was fostering and B-Joo's younger blood brother Byung Soo who was technically sixteen) had been her main concern but since Jae Mi and Jae Kyun were going with her, her thoughts had gone to the other four.

Luckily the relationships with the Guardians had gotten better since the wolves had lived with them. There no more Darklings or Shapeshifters. They were united no more than ever. It didn't matter what their pasts had been. They were now family. And family meant dealing with the other's problems no matter what they were.

Not two days ago, Yi Jeong had called Leo to the studio to ask him something. Everyone had seemed to know how restless the former Darkling leader had been recently. He had been cranky and quiet, even to Baye. She hadn't seemed to mind she was used to his silence. She had continued to do what had always done as he had followed her around silently.

So when he had met Yi Jeong, he had been surprised when the older man had asked him to go on a trip. He was due in New York for a meeting with the Elders of each group since Baye was going to the International Summit. Jun Pyo was in Japan with his branch and Woo Bin was in the Philippines on a good will trip. Ji Hoo was going to stay in Seoul to take care of the family. That left Yi Jeong.

The older man had already asked Hyuk to join him, but since technically he wasn't an adult in the Guardian world he couldn't go alone. Yi Jeong was considered a special guest so he would need at least one guard. No one else had wanted to go and Leo was crabby.

So he had agreed to go. Their flight was leaving the same day as Baye's so he got to see her off before he left as well.

Hyuk seemed way too excited as they waited for their flight to be called. The purple head bounced up and down way too much. Yi Jeong simply laughed at the maknae's antics but Leo was steadily getting annoyed. He barely kept his temper in check.

Once they boarded the plane Hyuk settled down. After takeoff, he put his headphones in and went to sleep. Leo stared at his book as he tried to settle his nerves. He hated planes. He hated the sudden turbulence. He always felt like his stomach would churn out of his body.

And another thing, the person beside him irritated him. Yi Jeong had gotten three first class tickets to New York's JFK Airport. It was a fourteen hour nonstop flight, and he was sitting by someone who was so peaceful it was sickening.

She was asleep, her capped head resting against the window. She was covered from shoulder to toe with a light weight blanket and was using a neck pillow to support her head. She was very pretty with her light skin and dark eyelashes hitting her rounded cheeks.

She adjusted her position and turned her head with a sign. Her eyes fluttered open briefly before she pulled up the blanket around her shoulders. Her head was a few inches from his shoulder but she never touched him. He could see white wires coming from her ears. She was listening to music to pass the time.

After fourteen long hours, the plane finally touched down in New York. First class disembarked first. Leo met Yi Jeong and Hyuk in the terminal and headed into the airport. They checked in with customs and went to wait outside for their car as teenage girls took their pictures. It was always like this when traveling with Yi Jeong.

As they were waiting, the woman walked by him with about eight men following her. They were talking up a storm but she ignored them and hopped a bus. Leo heard Yi Jeong laugh as the men were left dumbfounded. She was obviously very popular here in the States.

Their car arrived and they piled in with their luggage. They were a tight fit and Hyuk was crazy once again. He was bouncing around in the back seat. Leo had to bop him over the head a few times to get him to stop, but even then he still talked the whole time.

They arrived at their hotel and were ushered to their suite. It had three bedrooms and a huge living area. The Council had gone all out for them. Then again, Yi Jeong would have made their reservation for something with this class. He wasn't going out of town without a plan.

Their itinerary was on the coffee table. They had a dinner function to attend that evening and back to back meetings the following day. They were going to be busy for the next two weeks. Yi Jeong hadn't been kidding when he had said that he hated going to these things. He had also cursed Jun Pyo for going to Japan when it was technically his job to come to these meetings. He was the son of Kang Hee Soo who was the daughter of Kang Yong Hwa, a Council member. It was his job. But since he was in Japan, it fell to Yi Jeong.

Leo showered and changed clothes slowly. If he prolonged it, maybe they could be fashionably late. Luckily the dinner was casual formal. He could get away with wearing a pair of Khakis and a blazer that matched his grey eyes. It was the one thing he had actually liked about his powers. They had changed his eyes with the amount of us. He would be blue eyed by the time he died. They all would. Well, he wasn't certain about Baye since she was the Wild Power.

Yi Jeong knocked on his door to tell him it was time to go. Sighing, he looked in the mirror at the dreaded look. He much preferred jeans and a loose sweater. In fact that was what he had packed. He hadn't known he was going to be attending fancy dinners.

He stepped out and a gentle smile broke through the annoyance. Hyuk was enjoying the attention. The youngest member was very excitable and in this instance it was fine. He was young and couldn't join political meetings unlike A-Tom and Yano who had been born in the same year and were two months older and two months younger than him respectfully. In the wolf world, they were already allowed to help make decisions. Hyuk wasn't in the Guardian world. He wasn't considered an adult until the age of twenty-three. He also wasn't allowed to marry until that time. Technically Jeongmin wasn't supposed to either since his birthday in '94, but his mate was the Wild Power. No one had been about to tell him he couldn't.

Hyuk bounced around Yi Jeong with that goofy look on his face. He turned into a big puppy when he was excited, and this time the puppy had purple hair. Leo couldn't argue. He had red hair at the moment that was way brighter than his natural black. Yi Jeong had dyed his to a simple brown but it wasn't as outstated as the other two.

Luckily for them, the dinner was taking place in the ballroom on the first floor. They wouldn't have to leave the hotel until the next morning when they had a breakfast meeting. Leo stuck his tongue out as Yi Jeong held the door open to their suite. He just wanted to stay home, eat a banana and watch the free television, but that was too much to ask.

Once in the elevator, Yi Jeong turned the middle man to him and pulled out a container of hair gel. He smeared it on his fingers then ran it through Leo's hair. Leo sighed as he let the older man do it. There was no use in fighting. Baye had done it to him so many times he was used to it. From her. To have Yi Jeong do it was kind of weird but he knew better than to fight the potter. Yi Jeong didn't fight often but when he did his words were lethal.

He finished just as the elevator hit the ground floor and the doors opened. Briefly Leo saw his hair swept out of his face and standing somewhat straight up. It didn't look too bad, but he would rather be in his PJs. Nonetheless he stepped out with Yi Jeong and Hyuk and walked to the ballroom.

It was already packed by the time they got there. Yi Jeong looked at his watch. They were on time, but there were Council members and ambassadors from one hundred fifty countries. Everyone was wearing translators so personal ones couldn't have to follow them around. Everywhere they looked people's ears were blinking red. They were given one as soon as they walked in and they could hear all the conversations.

They milled about for several minutes. Yi Jeong talked to anyone who came up to him because he had to explain where Jun Pyo was and who the guys with him were. Leo looked around to see all the people who were there.

The double doors to the ballroom opened again. This time three women walked through. Leo instantly recognized the middle one as the woman from the plane who had slept the entire way to New York. He had never thought that she would be coming here as well. As he looked at her, he noticed that there was something completely different about her compared to all the other women in the room. There was something wild, feral about her.

Without preamble she and her friends walked towards them. She gave a slight nod and looked to their little group. She smiled at them then looked back at the host of the evening. He looked a little shocked as well.

"Dasha. I did not expect to see you here this early," he said.

The woman smiled in return. "I cut the last one early. I figured I should be here just in case." She turned to Yi Jeong. "How is Cho Donghyun? Dae Jin is worried that her brother would show up."

Yi Jeong smiled. "Donghyun has his hands full being a full time nanny. I think he enjoys it much more than being a Guardian."

The woman on Dasha's right sighed. "Thank goodness. I thought Oppa would surely show up. He doesn't know what I do."

The young man nodded. "Let me make introductions. This is Shin Leo and Min Sang Hyuk but we call him Hyuk. Guys, these lovely ladies are Cho Dae Jin – Donghyun's younger sister – Benji Smith, and Dasha Chan. They are the three the Council calls when someone has to be eliminated or when a meeting to this scale is called."

"Why only three?" Hyuk asked.

"Dasha has the best of two worlds. She can easily go between the Wolves and Guardians without a hitch. Her father was a high ranking wolf and her mother a Guardian turned Darkling. She has both wolf markings and Guardian marks," their host said.

Leo looked at Dasha. He suddenly placed why her features were so wild. Her dark hair curled around her face, but it was her eyes that told the whole story. They were a deep gold, almost as deep as Jenissi's. She was an Alpha's daughter, but she also had Guardian blood running through her veins. Her Guardian mark was obviously on her collarbone but where would her Wolf mark be? Usually they were somewhere visible.

She made eye contact with him and smiled. "My Wolf mark is on my shoulder if that's what you're wondering. They balance out."

Yi Jeong laughed as Leo looked shocked for him. "You're a telepath aren't you?"

Dae Jin smiled. "Eonni can do many things. Eonni, we have to go."

Dasha inclined her head and allowed the two women to escort her away. They walked over to a few other people who were waiting on them and struck up a conversation.

"How long have you relied on her?" Yi Jeong asked.

"She has been in the Council's services since she was sixteen. She is our only fully trained hunter," the host answered.

"Hunter?" All three men looked at him. Yi Jeong was the most nervous. "Hunters aren't allowed in Council meetings. And why is someone so young a hunter?"

"Dasha is a telepath. She can tell who the killer is no matter if they are Wolf or Guardian. Wolves have natural barriers from Guardian powers. It's a checks- and- balances thing, but Dasha is both so the barriers don't apply to her."

Hyuk leaned over and whispered to Leo, "Does that mean Hyun Joo will have the same abilities? Her mother is a Wild Power and her father an Alpha?"

Leo shrugged. "I don't know."

Something stirred in him and he looked at the shadowy places of the ballroom. He felt uneasy all of a sudden, like something had crept into the room and refused to leave. If a full hunter was here, it meant things were going to get nasty. He tried to see into the shadows but something blocked him. That was very unsettling.

Even though he couldn't figure out what was bothering him, he was going to have to pay attention until he figured out what was going on. He was wary that someone was going to get hurt, and without Ji Hoo, there was going to be a lot of pain.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: I had to clean the floor today so I did it after I woke up. I slept in the recliner last night because my dogs were barking all night. I guess they wanted someone to sleep in the living room with them. Then again they could be used to me getting up at 5:30 every morning so they think they have to be up. So I got up and went in the living room.

I have no idea what this chapter will entail. To be honest I haven't even thought about what will go on. I know Leo's emotions and I know what Dasha will be like. But as to how I'm going to get there, I have no idea. I hope you like it.

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Leo sat in the living of the suite and flipped through endless channels of pointless reality shows. The best thing about South Korean reality shows was they were hysterical. No one ever really knew what was going to happen even though it was scripted.

He'd had an off night. He hadn't slept even though he was dead tired and had wandered the suite most of the time. He had finally just gone down the street to a coffee shop at five and had sat there until the sun had come up. Hyuk and Yi Jeong had gone to work out just as he was coming back. They hadn't asked as he had passed by them. They were used to this.

He had texted Baye. She was usually the one he turned to when insomnia kicked in. But it had been Jeongmin who had answered. New Zealand was eighteen hours ahead of his current time so it had been evening there. That meant something had been going on for Baye not to be able to answer. She didn't usually leave her phone with Jeongmin, but considering they were actually on business means it was a different story.

So he had called N. One of his best friends who was only a few months older than him, N had helped him through so many things over the years. Leo had always been able to turn to him when he needed some help. He hadn't needed any help but he was unsettled.

N had been as helpful as he could have been fourteen hours away. He had talked things through with him and thought they hadn't come to a reason, it had helped Leo settle down enough to at least get some sleep. N had told him to call if he needed anything else before they had hung up.

Leo hadn't gotten much sleep but he had been so much more aware than he had when he had first landed in New York. He had turned on the television and had tried to lose everything that had been going on in his head.

Why were what were known as Hybrids so powerful? Was it because they had all the aspects of the Wolves and Guardians? The only hybrid he had met was Hyun Joo, Jenissi's two-year-old daughter. She hadn't shown any aspects of being strong but she was a baby.

The door to the suite opened. Leo was ready for whoever decided to breach their private area. But as he thought about it, he realized if someone to kill him, why would they open the door peacefully. It would be much easier to just break it down.

He was surprised to see Dasha and Benji stroll through the entryway. Dressed alike from head to toe, it was hard to tell them apart. The only way to do so was the hair. Dasha was brunette while Benji was blond. They moved in synchrony as they crossed the room, making them even more intimidating before. These two had been together for a long time.

Benji broke off and went into Hyuk's and Yi Jeong's rooms. Dasha checked the windows in the living room, completely ignoring Leo. He watched her, content that he didn't have to ask or answer anything. She didn't seem too concerned with him anyway.

Her partner returned shortly with a pile of clothes. The two women talked briefly before Benji left the suite with her armload.

After a few minutes, Dasha turned to him. Leo looked into her eyes and all at once he could see her heritage. Wolf eyes were prominent but the Guardian eyes were there as well. Blue ringed her retinas and irises, giving her a very creepy yet interesting look. But it all blended well to be unusual.

He wondered if Hyun Joo would be like this. There was no guarantee that Jenissi's daughter would inherit her father's wolf powers. No one would know anything until she hit puberty. She would either shift on the first full moon after her thirteenth birthday or she wouldn't. Until then they could only speculate by the way she acted.

With that thought in mind, he realized the full moon was two days away. Wolves weren't the only ones affected at that time. Guardians and Darklings were as well. The Guardians were weaker than the colored marks of the Darklings. That had been one of the changes that had occurred with the marks being filled in. It's the main reason that the Guardians were still wary of their darkened counterparts. It was something in the blood stream, but they weren't sure what it was.

Dasha heard all of Leo's thoughts even though she was across the room and wasn't necessarily listening in on purpose. She had heard of the division between the Darklings and Guardians had just about ended simply because one woman had nearly gone to war. She had heard that Baye Lee had shaken up the Guardian world by not only challenging the long held laws but also by being a Wild Power. She had met the woman once but hadn't been able to ask why she would risk her life like that.

Leo was the woman's friend. She could in his head how close they were. He actually missed her so deeply she wasn't sure he even realized it. As she delved deeper, she could see how deep his bond went to the woman. If he had been a wolf, it would have been the equivalent of a mate.

Behind her she heard the door open. Her ears twitched as the sound of three people's footsteps. One she recognized immediately.

"It's not nice to listen in on people's thoughts," Yi Jeong said as they came into the living room.

Dasha turned to him. "I can't help it."

"How do you speak Korean so well?" Hyuk asked as he jumped on the couch beside Leo. They were friends and had been for years. Leo looked upon him as a little brother, as shown when he cuffed him upside the head.

"I speak twenty-seven languages. I've traveled for years so I learned," she said. She ruffled Dae Jin's hair as the younger woman stepped beside her. "Is everything all right?" The woman nodded.

"What about your family?" Yi Jeong asked as he watched the familiarity pass between the women.

Dasha crossed her arms. "My mom died when I was born and my dad when I was ten. I grew up in foster care until I was old enough to pass the test to join the hunters."

"How did you land this?"

"Eonni has the highest survival rate among anyone. It's why I was paired with her and Benji," Dae Jin said.

Yi Jeong smiled gently yet knowingly. "Donghyun doesn't know about this does he?" Sheepily she shook her head. "You weren't sent here to become a hunter, Dae Jin. Shinhwa sent you here to get schooling."

"I know but after the bombings I asked if I could join the ranks. I know more than some people do."

She was talking about one of the clinics the Guardians had owned and operated. It had been bombed three years ago, before Baye and any of this had taken place. It had been all over the news as a terrorist bombing but everyone had known what it had actually meant.

"She's never been on a hunt. Benji and I take care of that while Jin does our paperwork. She's the one that gave us your information in the first place," Dasha said. "Besides she can't go on hunts. She's normal."

"Define normal," Hyuk laughed. Leo elbowed him in the ribs.

Dasha glanced at him. There was something about him that said he was starting to panic. She couldn't pinpoint what it was but it was there. It was in his eyes.

Leo felt the woman unraveling him. He looked away from the curious gaze and wondered what it was about her that set his teeth on edge. She clearly wasn't like the rest of them. She was intelligent and very observant. Everyone here trusted her, and she was taking care of one of his friends' sister. She had already showed her knowledge in a few things.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked. His voice shocked Yi Jeong and Hyuk since he hadn't spoken a word since he had arrived.

She offered him a kind smile. "You just did, but you can ask another."

Irritated, he tried to hide it. "How does the full moon affect you? Guardians are weaker during those three days, but wolves can't hide their change. What do you do?"

She smiled as she looked at the floor the pushed her hair back away from her ear. He saw an ear but it was much more pointed than theirs. Even Hyuk rubbed at his ears then checked Leo's. They were perfectly rounded.

"If I don't change fully, I take on slight wolf qualities. My ears start doing this and my nails are a lot sharper than usual. It's nothing like _Teen Wolf_ or anything but you can tell something is different. Also my skin tone deepens. It's much darker than it is now but it's not quite the color of my animal fur."

"Are there more like you?" Hyuk asked.

"Until recently I was the only one. Now I know there is one like me, but she's the daughter of a wolf and a Wild Power." Everyone looked like fish with their mouths open. She tapped her temple to let them know she how she had known. "I'm not going to tell anyone. It would harm everything you have worked for."

Yi Jeong sat in the high back chair and crossed his legs. "Why aren't there many Hybrids like yourself?"

"Because everyone is afraid of wolves almost as much as they were the Darklings. Just because something is different they think it's dangerous. So it was outlawed for a Guardian to fraternize much less marry and have children with a wolf. My dad was shunned from his pack for opting to raise me and was killed for it when I was ten. I'm not bitter about it, but it does fuel my need to see everyone settled. It doesn't matter if you're black, white, Asian, Latino, blue or purple. No one should be told they can't do something simply because they're a different race or gender."

Leo felt something stir within him. The last person he had heard talk this passionately had been Baye. They had asked what she was going to do about Hyun Joo, and she had literally put them in their places about that child. She had made a decision and she was going to stick by it. She would be the child's Alpha is she was a wolf and a mother figure if she was a Guardian, but she would not be her mother.

Everyone had looked at Jeongmin, but the man had simply looked away. It hadn't been his idea. Though all the pain had been pushed aside there was still a divide between Jeongmin and the wolves. They had all seen it. He loved his wife and respected her decisions but he still held a grudge against Jenissi's former family even though his brothers had all forgiven them. Unfortunately for Jenissi, he fell in the grudge category because of his actions. No matter how many times he had said that he had forgiven everyone, he hadn't forgotten and he probably never would.

"What brings you do here?" Yi Jeong asked.

"We're required to pack an emergency bag on everyone who attends the meetings. We keep them in the meeting room because anyone is smart would attack you all as one. If we have emergency packs, we can ensure survival on almost all of you. We always pack a four day supply of water and food, two changes of clothes, and medical supplies in case we get separated. It's just protocol," Dasha answered.

"We have more Hunters coming in to help. Sometimes we can't be sure who is friend or foe so we have to be careful," Jin said.

"Your brother's going to be worried," Hyuk said. "He worries about you even though you don't talk to him."

"Oppa had to take care of me for a few years. It's only natural for him to worry."

Dasha touched her friend on the shoulder. "We need to go. I have a few more things I need to take care of before we can head down for this evening's meetings."

They said their goodbyes and the women left the suite. They walked to the elevator and waited after Dasha pushed the button. Once inside the metal box, Jin looked at her friend.

"Why didn't you tell them there had been a message saying that something was going to happen?" she asked.

"Because it would have caused unwanted attention. Everyone would have panicked even more. No one would have wanted to go to the meetings for fear of losing their lives. We can't have that mayhem. If it happens, we will be prepared," Dasha said.

Jin seemed to accept that answer and shrank back into the corner. But it wasn't the question that had Dasha worried. There were three people here who were supremely close to the Wild Power. Baye was well know already, and there were three groups of people who wanted her on their side, wanted her dead or just didn't care.

At the moment, there were more people who wanted her on their side no matter what. They would do whatever it took to get her. Everyone knew who So Yi Jeong, Shin Leo, and Boo Sang Hyuk were. They would not hesitate to go after them in hopes of getting Baye. Dasha was going to make sure they went nowhere.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Sorry for not updating this sooner. It has taken a few days to figure out what I wanted to do. Plus I've had a busy and stressful week. Life as a responsible adult is boring. I wish I didn't have to adult anymore. I could sit at home and not worry about money and just write all the time. Maybe I'd be a successful author by now.

Also sorry to Jayjayzek for not getting a chance to read the new chapters. I haven't had time (hence why this is late). I'll get to it soon!

There's this drama that I've been keeping up with on a weekly basis. It's called Moorim School and has Hongbin from Vixx. I'm addicted! I hate that there is only three weeks left of the show! I'm going to have to find a new one. I need a new story option as well, maybe something new and fresh. I like doing supernatural stories so maybe I can do a new one soon.

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Dasha sat in the meeting on edge and ready to leave. She hated meetings. There were so many voices in her head she had to use extra effort to keep them quiet. She tapped her foot in effort to drown out the buzz as she drowned out the voices. Always an aftereffect.

Across the room she saw Creed emerge from the back room. Dae Jin had been sent back to their home base to monitor the meetings from the cameras. Creed Jones had been sent to fill in her spot. Creed was a Guardian who had been trained with Benji and Dasha. They had been paired together at the very beginning since Dasha was intelligent, Benji had brute force, and Creed fast. Throw in Dae Jin and they were the best of the American hunters even though many of them weren't Americans.

Creed flashed a hand sign before she melded into the background. No one questioned the mocha colored woman as she passed. She was a Guardian from Africa. Her mother was black and her father a white Egyptian. She had been taken from her mother during an attack on her village and had been fostered by a Muslim family in Cairo.

She had been part of an exchange in fifth grade where she had come to train as a Hunter. She'd had the choice of returning when it was over but had decided to stay with her group.

Benji shuffled into view then quickly disappeared. She had been tossed out of her pack when her Alpha father had been overthrown and killed. She had been a lone wolf when Dasha had come across her during training. She had been injured and sick, and if the other woman hadn't taken her in, she would have died. After that Benji had been Dasha's best friend and partner.

"Eonni, keep an eye on the southeast corner," Jin's voice sounded in her ear.

Cho Dae Jin had been a college student when they had first met. She had been studying computer design. Dasha had been on campus when the bomb had gone off. As everyone else had run for their lives, she had watched Dae Jin run into danger. Dasha had watcher her from a tree as she had helped eight people from the rubble.

Afterwards she had immediately gotten in touch with the girl and had asked her to help. Jin had been excited yet nervous because of her brother, who was another person close to the Wild Power. Since then she had been an integral part of their hunts on the information end.

Dasha shifted all attention to the southeast corner of the room. That was the area in which the South Korean delegates were sitting. Yi Jeong and Hyuk were actually paying attention but Leo was not. His attention was drawn to the corner. From the angle she was at, she couldn't see what his face was showing.

" _Dasha-ssi?"_ She heard his voice in her head. Soft as a whisper, almost like he was scared to reach out for her.

Gently she wrapped her mind around his, blocking Benji who pressed in a little to see who she was talking to. She flooded his shadows and silence with warmth, finally understanding his gentle yet cold personality.

" _What is it, Leo-ssi?"_ She mirrored his formal speech to make him as comfortable as possible.

" _Do you feel that thrumming?"_

She released him but stayed connected so she could answer him if she needed to. She felt through the shadows as gently as she could. He was right. There was thrumming, but it wasn't the usual thrumming of the city. This was deep and guttural.

This was old.

Dasha released Leo fully and seized Benji and creed mentally while talking verbally. _"Jin, lock down the building. Creed, get to the speaker. Benji, go to the southeast corner. Leo, move."_

She was coming out of the balcony when all hell broke loose. Smartly she grabbed three packs she had stashed before jumping from the balcony. She landed on the desk below her and dropped to the floor. Rolling to her feet, she located the Koreans and charged towards the corner. Leo was shoving Yi Jeong and Hyuk away from the corner.

There was a huge current pulling on them. It was a vortex. She had only seen a couple before and nothing good had ever from them. The people who had been sucked into them were never seen again.

" _Dash,"_ Benji said, " _this is old magic. As in creator magic. We can't stop this."_

" _We can't let them get sucked in,"_ she argued. _"Benji, get to them. Grab Yi Jeong and Hyuk. I'll buy some time then snag Leo. If you can get away, do it."_

" _Our tracking beacons won't work with all the electromagnetic currenst in that thing. Jin won't be able to track us."_

" _We'll figure that out later."_

Benji got to the trio first and grabbed her two. Leo shoved them into her arms just as the vortex started to suck him in.

Dasha called out a warning to him and he dropped to the ground. A few seconds later a table went flying right through the space he had been. It smacked the wall and dampened the effects of the vortex. Dasha slid beside him and grabbed him under the arm. She grabbed a zip tie from her pocket (because hey! who doesn't keep zip ties on them) and linked their arms together.

Leo looked up into the determined face as she tightened the plastic around their wrists. She gripped his hand and pulled hard. She was doing her best to save him.

They heard a crack and looked back. The table was starting to break apart. Whoever had cast the vortex was either determined to get them or losing power. Either they were going to get sucked in or the vortex was going to close. By the looks of it, they were getting sucked in.

The table splintered and disappeared. Dasha pounced on Leo just as his body was pulled backwards. She wrapped her body around his, holding on with her free arm as her tethered hand held his.

"Hold your breath," she whispered in his ear. "Your lungs won't hurt as much."

He sucked in a breath just as he felt an immense pressure on his body. His last sight was Yi Jeong, Hyuk and Benji being pulled in as well.

They tumbled mercilessly through the unknown. The silence was deafening, even for Leo. He wanted to scream but figured if he did so his lungs would collapse. He buried his face in Dasha's shoulder, bending her linked arm behind her back. She held on tightly without a sound.

The annoying buzz suddenly ended and they were in free fall. Leo felt Dasha release her free arm from around his waist and turn. Before he could figure out what she was doing, they landed hard in the sand. His breath came out in a huff as he landed on top of her. Inhaling painfully, he looked down to see if she was injured. She cut her eyes to him then looked over her shoulder.

Leo looked up over his shoulder to see Benji, Yi Jeong and Hyuk land easily on their feet. They too were connected by zip ties. It must be a normal thing.

Dasha dropped both her free hand and head to the ground. She was exhausted and hurt everywhere. She could feel liquid dripping off her wrist and knew it wasn't water. This was going to be the worst adventure she had ever been on.

Body protesting, she sat up. Leo sat beside her with a look of concern. His stoic mask was replaced during extreme crisis. He had been determined back at the meeting hall and now was concerned. He was very expressive if you knew what to look for.

"Stay still," Benji said as she knelt beside them. She slid a knife under the black plastic and jerked. It came free instantly. "It's not too bad. I was afraid you would be cut to the bone."

"Holding hands lessens the blow," Dasha answered as she rubbed her wrist.

Benji frowned. "I'd feel better if you wrapped it. You don't heal as fast as I do."

Confused Yi Jeong asked, "What does that mean?"

"Because Dasha is half-Guardian and half-Wolf, she doesn't have the accelerated healing full blooded wolves have. She's also not part of a pack so she doesn't have pack bonds to speed up the process either. She's human in this aspect," Benji explained as she cleaned and wrapped her friend's wrist.

Leo frowned when Dasha slung three packs off her shoulders. He wasn't familiar with English writing but he recognized his whole name written on a backpack. Lee Taekwoon. On the others he saw So Yi Jeong and Min Sang Hyuk. They had anticipated something like this may happen and had planned accordingly.

"You need to change clothes," Dasha said as she handed each man a pack. "We're in a desert and though it may seem cool right now, once the sun is at its peak it will be hot. We're out of GPS range so we can't make a call yet but we need shelter first."

"Your packs have three days worth of supplies. If we're not found by then, we'll have to buy more," Benji added as she took two more packs off. "Go change first then we'll head out."

"Wait. Hyuk, come here," Dasha said.

The boy obeyed and stood before her. Somewhere she produced a flashlight. She shined it in Hyuk's eyes. His pupils were blown wide, and she wracked her brain to remember what had happened to him. In the very back of her memory, she saw Leo push him into the tables behind where they had sat. the young man had cracked his head on one of the chairs.

Sighing she looked at Benji. "He has a concussion."

Benji snagged Hyuk's bag and took his arm. "I'll talk to him to keep him awake. Go ahead and change your clothes. This won't take long."

She led the injured kid away from them. The other three rummaged through their packs to find new clothes. They weren't as fashionable as the ones they were currently wearing but they didn't have much of a choice.

Leo looked over just as Dasha pulled her shirt over her head. Emblazoned in black on her right shoulder was her wolf mark. Almost like her Guardian mark it took up the majority of her shoulder blade. It was full moon peeking out of the clouds. The clouds seemed to move on her skin.

She pulled a black tank over the toned muscles of her back and abdomen then reached in her bag again. She stood and pulled the long hair into a ponytail. She was completely at ease even though they were stuck some place they had no idea where. She was in charge here, and that was disconcerting to an extent.

Dasha pulled on a light jacket then shouldered her pack. It hurt just having a little bit of weight on her shoulder. She was going to have bruises on her ribs and shoulders because she had landed that hard. It didn't help that Leo had landed on her when they had fallen.

Benji led Hyuk back over and made sure he was focusing. His eyes didn't look too wide now but concussions could be hard to judge. She was certain he hadn't had one before.

"How are we going to find our way out of here?" Yi Jeong asked.

"We need to figure out which country we're in. There are roughly forty-three countries in the world with a desert within its borders. Once we find out what country we're in, we have a decent chance of finding out who did this and getting home," Dasha said. "We need to find people so I can determine which language they are speaking."

"Is it dangerous to have someone so close when we don't know what's going on?"

"It depends."

"On what?"

"On who did this and whether or not the people of this country know who that person is. Now if you're asking questions, we have to get moving. Pull on your jackets and pull the hoods up."

Leo felt the sting of her words. She wasn't panicking but she didn't know where they were or who was after them. Knowing was half the battle and they were in the dark on all of it.

He walked over to Hyuk and threw his arm around his shoulder then followed the two women. Yi Jeong followed beside him, quietly musing over everything that was going to happen and what had happened. He was silently hoping they found internet soon so they could figure out what was going on. They needed to get home. They needed to get help/ they needed to warn Baye.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: So I have been reading a lot lately so I really haven't written or commented on anyone's works. I get new inspiration when I read a really good book so it helps me. Plus it breaks up the monotony of simply just writing.

I nearly broke my finger the other day. It's all nasty and bruised at the moment. The saddest part was I broke a ring I have worn every day for two years. It was sad to have to throw it away but I'm glad I didn't have to go to the hospital. I can always get a new ring. My finger? Not so much.

I also watched an entire drama in the week I was MIA. I watched She's So Loveable. It has so many different names but it's good nonetheless. It has Rain and Krystal Jung from (F)X as the main leads. I laughed so hard but cried a couple of moments, much to the unhappiness to my mom who was trying to watch television as well. It was good though.

(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(

Baye walked into the city conference room with a mission. Jeongmin followed with the boys on either side. Their family vacation had been interrupted with a new development.

Their friends were missing and no one knew where they were. They had been on official business when it had happened. The information they had been given was lacking but everyone was still in shock.

A few hours earlier, Hyunseong had popped in with Woo Bin, Jun Pyo and Donghyun. Everyone had gotten quiet when Jun Pyo had demanded to see Baye. No one had argued with him. It had taken a while to get her there because her parents lived out of the city limits.

Jun Pyo hopped up so Baye could sit. Even though she was able to walk, she tired easily. It was an unspoken rule that she sit during any sort of meeting, or Jeongmin and Ji Hoo would come unglued. They had a few months ago when one of the higher ups had refused to yield his seat. It had almost been like Jeongmin had been back in college.

"Someone care to explain?" she asked. She looked disheveled with her wavy hair loose about her shoulders and her skin a deep gold.

"Yi Jeong, Hyuk and Leo went to the meetings in New York. Leo didn't want to go but Hyuk is too young to go alone," one of the New Zealanders said.

Baye waved a hand in front of her face. "I got that. How did we lose them?"

"They were sucked into a vortex," Woo Bin answered. She looked at him. "Someone of magic descent opened a vortex strong enough to suck five people through it, two of which shouldn't have been able to go through."

"What do you mean?" Donghyun asked.

"From what I understand, a wolf named Benji and Dasha Chan tried to save them. And you know wolves are nearly impervious to magic due to pack bonds."

"Who is she?" Baye asked.

"She's a hunter but more commonly she's known as the Hybrid. Her father was a powerful wolf and her mother a Guardian. She's the only one of her kind." Woo Bin flushed. "Well, until Hyun Joo…"

Baye ignored the last comment as she thought deeply. "I've never met her. When we find them, make sure I do."

She got up and went to the computer. The man sitting there got up and let her have his seat. She poked at the screen. "Can we track the vortex?"

"Not at this time. Our interplane technology can't track it for thirty-six hours. We haven't perfected it yet," Donghyun explained. "If magic is in use, it glitches the machine and gives false readings."

"We also haven't had it up and running very long either," Jun Pyo added.

Baye wasn't impressed. "We have to wait a day and a half to be able to find them. If I was on my own like that, the first place I'd go is for cover. There's no way you can track them with that technology. The electromagnetic waves would have killed any chances."

"What should we do?" someone else asked.

"Give me any and all information you have. I'm still new to this."

Woo Bin sighed and sat down. "We have a lot to explain. First what opened the vortex was maker magic."

Baye listened, filing away the information and forming a plan as her friend talked.

($($($($($($(&($($

Leo watched Benji care for Hyuk as they trudged through the now grassy plains of some random country. They had traveled a long time since they had arrived hours before and things weren't looking too good. The maknae was doing better than he had the day before but he was tired. They all were, but it was Dasha who looked worse than everyone.

The further they went the more they could see it. She adjusted her pack every so often to ease the pain in her shoulders. They couldn't see it often but she was limping as well. Yet she still kept leading them.

He wondered why she had saved his life the way she had. There was no doubt she had a least a couple of bruised ribs, if not broken. She hadn't had second thoughts about wrapping herself around him. Not many others would have done that. He was still considered taboo by many.

His thoughts trailed to Dasha's life. How had life been for her? She was a mix of wolf and Guardian. Had anyone ignored her because of it? She hadn't said anything to them about it, but he figured her life hadn't been easy. But she didn't talk about it.

They came over a hill and looked out. Yi Jeong laughed, his sweaty and sunburned face lighting up instantly. They had found a village or a caravan or something.

"That's a Moroccan caravan," Benji said. "If we can get into Spain, we can get help."

Dasha shook her head. "Not Spain. We need to get into Portugal."

"But Spain is right across the Strait of Gibraltar. It's nine miles away."

"It's also where the last pure blood line of the Makers resides. We're not certain it wasn't them that brought us here. Why would we bring three friends of the Wild Power so close to them?"

Benji turned to her, concern on her face. "Why are you so worried about this?"

"Something doesn't feel right."

Leo looked at her. She had this troubled look on her face. It was almost like she was reading him way too well, but she wasn't. She hadn't been in his head for hours. He could feel something very uneasy about the caravan.

Benji looked between the caravan and the other woman. "You don't look too convinced about any of this."

"I know we need to move, but there's something wrong about that caravan. They usually don't venture too far out of the desert." She was unsettled as she furled and unfurled her fists slowly as she looked over the group before them.

"Well I'm not going back to the desert."

She nodded. "Go back down. We need to eat and rest. We'll move out at daybreak."

"No fires?" Benji asked.

"No fires."

Dasha watched the other four as they went back down the hills. She cast a glance at the supposed caravan before descending herself. She checked on everyone as she moved through them.

She sat down with difficulty and pulled her bag into her lap. She opened it up and pulled out a bottle of water and a bag of freeze dried banana chips. Her stomach ached from the fall. Leo was not a light person. They probability weighed the same amount honestly.

Moving hurt. Her ribs hurt. She wanted to cry but all emotion was ripped away by a sense of urgency. She needed to find out who had created the vortex that had brought them here. It was part of her job. Protect and serve, and hunt. All of those went hand in hand with their society.

Her skin prickled with animal urge. Her animal side was trying to take over. She wanted to protect her human counterpart. She didn't want Dasha hurt. But Dasha knew that if she gave in, her animal side wouldn't allow the Guardians to stay. She would run them off.

She turned her thoughts inward and stroked her wolf spirit tenderly. She reassured her forever friend that she was sore but safe. She may not have the healing capabilities but she did have the heightened senses. She would be all right.

It took a few moments to get her other half to settle down, but she finally did. When Dasha opened her eyes, Leo was sitting beside her. He was overlooking the others as she returned to outward reality.

"Benji said you were zoned out for a moment. She told me to sit by you until you returned," he said.

"Did you eat?" she asked. She wasn't surprised Benji had sent someone over. Sometimes it took longer than a few minutes to come back.

"Mmhmm," he mumbled. She noticed he had a baggy. "These aren't the greatest but they are better than nothing."

Leo looked over when Dasha didn't say anything. She was looking at something in her bag. He watched her tuck her hair behind her ear, exposing her sunburned neck.

"You must hurt," he said.

"Not too bad," she answered distractedly.

He snorted. "I'm nearly one hundred forty pounds."

Dasha cast him a look. "I'm close to one fifty. I weigh more than you."

"You hit your back. You have to hurt." He spun around in the dirt and grass. "Let me see your back."

"I said I'm fine."

"Just do it."

He sounded angry so she did what he asked. The cooling air hit her back, making her shiver. But it felt good against the heat.

Leo stared at the blue and red colors on her tanned skin. He could see every outline of her ribs. She had hit harder than he had initially thought. Without accelerated healing she would carry those for days.

He ran his thumb along one particularly nasty bruise. She straightened her back as if he had hurt her. He pulled his hand away instantly.

Dasha's heart thundered in her chest. Benji glanced up as she tended the concussed Hyuk and tilted her head. Her friend shook her head as she turned to get her heart under control. No one had touched her like that before. They had all been required to learn how to deal with pain. First aid was one thing. Pain was another. And this was neither one of those.

She adjusted her shirt and repacked her bag. Benji gathered everyone together so they could take turns keeping watch. Benji offered to take the first watch so she could stay awake with Hyuk.

Leo watched Dasha prop herself up on the hills. She pulled her hood up, folded her arms and closed her eyes. At that moment she seemed exhausted. How many adventures had she had like this? She didn't seem used to this at all.

He tried to sleep but the silence of the rolling hills was getting to him. He wasn't used to it. He could easily tell what was going on at home he was so used to it and he knew all the sounds. Here he was at a disadvantage.

The shadows moved around him, driving him slightly nuts. The moon was almost full and they were all feeling its effects. Due to his concussion, Hyuk was disoriented. It was worse because of the moon. But Yi Jeong was the one at the most disadvantage. He could easily control the earth on which they sat on any normal night, but the three nights of the full moon he was tapped out.

Leo was starting to fall asleep when he saw slight movement in the shadows. He didn't move, but he didn't have to because Dasha was awake.

She slowly slipped out of the hill she was nestled and turned to go up it. Her movements were slow and steady. She moved almost as if she were a sloth. Her hands and feet were placed in exactly the right places to ensure the minimum amount of dirt and rock were shifting.

She crested the rise and looked around slowly. She took in everything she could without having to fully expose herself. It was a limited view at that angle but they couldn't chance it.

Leo saw a glint before he heard the clack of a round being chambered. They had been found and it wasn't going to end well for someone.

Slowly he looked up. There stood a man with a pistol aimed at Dasha's head. He said something in a language the Korean man didn't understand. With moves as fast as lightning, Dasha shot up the hill and all hell broke loose.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note:

(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(

Dasha felt the metal pressed against her forehead, and all the anger she had repressed to figure out where they were washed over her. Her teeth started to ache as her finally calm heart started to thunder again.

" _Use me,"_ her wolf whispered.

She did. As the round chambered, she shot up the hill, body flying six feet in the air. Their attacker was too dumbfounded to fire his weapon. Not that it mattered anyway since it went flying from his hand. Dasha landed on him a second later and drove her fist into his shoulder, snapping it instantly.

Bullets pattered to an end in the dirt as four more people ran towards them. The hill shifted as dirt and rock welled up and started swirling. Dasha was able to use it even with the moon being nearly full. She could only do it tonight. It was their best bet of survival for the few moments it took Benji to change.

Sweat started to bead across her head as she hit her max. Wolf and Guardian hadn't merged yet. She hadn't found that balance and it was starting to wear her out. Her wolf was straining to push through the powers of her Guardian lineage, and that struggle was weakening her.

She felt the burning pain as a blade slid between two of her ribs. Her wolf growled and took instant control. She shoved him away just as Benji's battleship gray wolf launched into the fight with a howl.

Somewhat useless, Dasha did the best she could as she tried to staunch the blood flow. At this rate, she'd bleed out. She couldn't help anyone if she was dead. But she couldn't just watch Benji act alone.

She broke the guy's wrists for good measure and jumped up to help her friend. She stomped on her heel and a knife popped from her steel-toes. Holding her side to stop as much blood as possible, she used her blade to disable their opponents.

It didn't take long to either take out or disperse their opponents. They checked their surroundings to make sure no others were waiting to attack. When they were certain no one would, they let their guards down.

Dasha felt lightheaded seconds before her knees buckled. Through blurry vision, she lifted her hand to see it stained red. Benji looked at her with concerned golden eyes. She couldn't change back just yet so she couldn't help at all.

Leo slid beside her and started pulling at her clothes. She was bleeding profusely from a serrated edge. It was amazing she had been on her feet for as long as she had been.

Yi Jeong helped Hyuk sit down then gently pushed Leo away. He rummaged through one of the packs and produced needle and thread then set about suturing the gash. He did so with ease and no one said anything about it.

Leo held Dasha's hand. She never once made a sound as the needle stitched her skin back together. She squeezed his hand every time she was in pain but no sound came out. She reminded him of Baye in the fact that she was strong physically and mentally.

Overcome with emotion, he wrapped his free hand around her head and pulled it to his shoulder. He didn't even flinch when she bit into his shoulder and whimpered pitifully.

Yi Jeong snipped the tied ends and started cleaning up the wound before putting a patch over it. As he cleaned up everything, Leo pulled back. Dasha looked at him. He saw something flicker in her eyes. They were now a mix-matched color of ice blue and gold. They weren't human eyes anymore.

"We need to get moving," Yi Jeong said as he repacked the bag then slung it as well as two others on his back. "It's almost dawn. Leo, carry Dasha. She's weak and probably can't walk. We'll need to change the bandage once we get across the strait."

Leo didn't argue. He squatted before Dasha and slowly yet carefully pulled the woman's arms over his shoulders. When she tightened her arms, he grabbed her under the knees and stood. He heard her grunt and felt her press her forehead into his neck. She was in pain. He didn't know how to ease that pain so he kept walking.

They came to the waters of the strait and looked down the banks. Dasha said something and Leo told Yi Jeong. The potter did what he had been instructed and soon the quintet was sailing towards Portugal.

Yi Jeong knelt in the boat and tended to Dasha while keeping an eye on the sails. Dasha was feverish, a clear sign she wasn't able to heal. The bandage was soaked clean through. The stitches were still in tact, but it was bleeding heavily.

She exhaled a shaky breath and opened her eyes. The same mix-matched color peered out at them. The wolf was still in control and taking the pain from her human counterpart.

"How is Dasha able to use her powers around you?" Yi Jeong asked a newly turned Benji.

She rummaged around her pack for her fresh shirt since she had ripped the other one. "She's half-wolf and half-Guardian. Those stereotypes don't apply to her. She can be in a pack of wolves and still use them."

"I bet she's unstoppable," Hyuk said. It was the first words he had spoken since they had dropped in Morocco.

"Unfortunately she hasn't found a balance between her dual sides. If and when she does, her powers could rival Baye's. No one knows because there has never been a Wolf-Guardian Hybrid before that has reached adulthood."

Leo followed the she-wolf with his eyes as he moved across the boat. "There've been more of them?"

Benji nodded as she gathered Dasha's hair and tied it in a bun. "Six that I remember. They were all killed in infancy. Dasha's father was the High Alpha of Atlanta when the pack found out he had a Guardian for a wife. They tried to kill him but killed his mate instead while she was in labor. Somehow she managed to give birth before she died. Eventually his pack poisoned him, leaving Dasha alone. Not that it mattered since her wolf had already made herself present. It was really the only thing that saved the child's life at such a young age. After all this time, she's made a name for herself, but she's weak at the same time."

"What would happen if she and Baye formed an alliance?" YI Jeong asked. "IF they are on par with each other like you said, wouldn't they be unstoppable?"

A cold glint stole into Benji's eyes. "Don't even think about it. She's not your puppet. The only reason she's a Hunter is because she won't fit in anywhere else. She can't. Her intelligence level ranks among the highest in the world and she knows why too much about the inner workings of many governments. No one would let her fit in."

"You misunderstand. I don't care that she's a Hybrid. We have one in our family as well. What I do care about is her ability to bring about peace. She has risked her life more in one day than anyone has in all my life. Baye isn't a fighter nor will she ever be. She needs someone at her back that isn't afraid to get dirty. Someone who can unite the wolves and Guardians because right now it's in chaos even with Baye at the helm."

"And you wonder why."

Yi Jeong sat back. "No, I know why. I'm not afraid to admit we were wrong. We have only ever held the Makers and Wild Powers to a higher standard while looking down on everything else. Meeting Baye has been the best thing for all of us because she grew up knowing our world but not being part of it."

"She was the first one to extend a hand to us when everyone had cast us aside," Leo said.

Benji watched him for a long moment. "You loved her unconditionally and yet you're alone."

"She loves him," Hyuk said, "but she loves someone else more. It was out of her control."

"The mating bond."

"We don't call it that, but yes," Yi Jeong confirmed. "She's easy to love but hard to forget."

He flicked his eyes down. Benji was now holding Dasha as a lover would. "What does this mean?"

Benji looked mutinous. "Don't misunderstand. I've been with this woman for fifteen years. We have fought side by side and have supported each other. She's my sister wolf."

Leo had heard Xero and Yano talking about it once. In a wolf pack there were two kinds of siblings, blood sibling and wolf siblings. Yano and Xero and Hansol, B-Joo and newcomer Byung Soo were blood brothers. Jenissi and P-Goon were wolf brothers. They had no blood relation but considered each other family. They would fight and die for each other. They had taken each other to heart and were now helping to raise each other's children like they were their own.

Dasha and Benji had no blood relation and considered each other family. They didn't go long without seeing each other and were always in the other's business. There were two more of their team and it all went together.

"Benji," Dasha muttered. "Someone is coming fast on starboard."

Benji sat up and looked over the starboard side. A speedboat was making time as it nearly reached top sped. And it was headed right for them.

Jumping up, the woman dropped the sails. The boat lurched to a stop seconds before she fired the engine and the boat picked up speed. Hyuk dropped to the bottom and held on to Dasha as they speed towards the coast of Portugal.

Yi Jeong grabbed for a hold as he made his way back towards the wheel. "What kind of boat is this?"

"One Dasha designed. It's a mix of a speedboat and a sailboat made for lazy days or fast getaways. We need the latter," Benji stated as she cut the wheel hard to port.

The potter nearly toppled over as the boat went right. "What can't you do?"

"Swim, which is why we need to hit the coast fast. We have immunity and everyone knows it. If we can't get to the Portuguese, they'll kill us."

Cursing, Yi Jeong looked back. "I wish Woo Bin were here. He could handle this."

"Noona!"

Both looked down to see Dasha struggling to get on her feet. Hyuk couldn't hold her down and Leo didn't dare. Whatever she wanted to do she was about to do it.

She stumbled up to them but didn't look. Instead she flicked her wrist. The speedboat that had been following them shot up into the air then suddenly exploded. The two men who were in it luckily didn't die in the blast but the same more than likely couldn't be said about the flying debris.

"What in the world?" Yi Jeong asked.

"That was the power of wolf and Guardian combined. Imagine what could happen if she was healthy and had full control," Benji said. She looked down at one of her gadgets. "We're coming into Portuguese waters."

"How long until we dock?"

"An hour at most. Someone needs to get Dasha."

Leo had already beaten them to it. He was talking to Dasha as he checked to make sure everything was tucked in before he picked her up. Yi Jeong was surprised by the look on the younger man's face as he carried the woman. He hadn't seen that look of contentment ever on him.

Dasha was drowsy as she once again settled on Leo's back. These three men had made this trip easier. If she and Benji had been alone, she had no doubt she would have died. They had saved her life. Now even though she was weak and had possibly contracted an infection, they were still willing to do as she had instructed.

The boat docked just inside the Portuguese borders. Benji sold the boat to the dock master for a reasonable price and they headed inward. Benji led them to a small restaurant for a quick rest and food.

"We need to head to Lisbon. We have a friend in the Underground who can help us," she said as their drinks were given to them.

"What's the Underground?" Hyuk asked.

"It's a group of people who have been outcast or voluntarily chose to leave their societies. Many of them have criminal records. The one we're going to see is a doctor and Boghosian."

"And that would be what exactly?" The maknae was clearly confused.

"He's a member of the Magickal community but not directly descended from the Makers. The only family to have direct lineage there lives in Spain, which we just bypassed."

"Isn't there a hierarchy to the Magickal Community?" Yi Jeong asked.

Benji nodded. "But I don't know it."

"A Maker is one of the four primary magic users. Halflings are first descendants of the Makers. Thrices are on-third Maker and two-thirds human. Boghosians are humans with magic that don't have any immediate family members who are the three above. They are so far removed from the Makers that their DNA barely registers," Dasha explained. She sat up straighter and blinked. "Where are we?"

"Just inside Portugal's borders. Are you feeling any better?" Yi Jeong asked. She shook her head before propping it up on her hand. "We sold the boat and are going to eat before heading towards Lisbon."

"We're going to need new clothes," she said.

"You need medical help," Benji urged. "You wolf eyes are showing and you're running a fever. If you're not careful, you'll change right here and expose us."

"I know already. I can feel it. You don't have to point it out."

Leo took a different approach. "I ordered a simple soup. Would you like some it?"

Dasha shook her head. "I'm not hungry."

"Dasha!" Benji scolded.

Leo cut his eyes to her and forced her to back down. The woman looked away, securing dominance in the Darkened Guardian. Yi Jeong and Hyuk bit back a laugh. Wolves were very dominant creatures. For one to back down in a staring contest said a lot. Benji was giving Leo a lot of respect by doing so.

"You need to eat, Dasha. You'll need strength when you get better," he said.

Dasha slanted her eyes at him and watched him closely. Usually Leo would be unnerved by someone watching him, but that golden eye proved different. It was honest and quiet, more speculative than anything.

Shortly their food arrived. Hyuk tore into his like a ravenous beast while Yi Jeong and Benji made small talk. Leo urged Dasha to eat though he knew she really didn't want to. He got a few spoonful's before he just gave up and settled on water. He made sure she drank enough to ease any and all achy muscles.

"Are we going to see Ronaldo?" Benji asked.

Dasha glanced up and nodded. "Yeah. He's made a deal with every group imaginable that he doesn't have to tell who he hides regardless of legal affairs. He's done so much work he's earned it."

"So we'll be safe?" Hyuk asked. He received a weary nod. "What about Noona? How are we going to get in touch with her?"

"Don't worry about it. It's already been dealt with."

Benji laughed at Hyuk's confusion. "Once we found out we were in Africa, Dasha probably already talked with Jin. Even though she hates to give herself away, she's probably already headed to New Zealand with Creed to meet you group."

"Can we contact them from Lisbon?" Yi Jeong asked.

"We'll have to get into the Underground to do that. But our first priority is that one." Benji pointed to Dasha who leaned heavily on Leo.

"She doesn't look too good," Hyuk mused.

"It's probably an infection. Hurry and eat. We need to move sooner rather than later."


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Sorry this has taken so long to get posted. I had another thought running through my head and had to get it out. I'm still working on this one but it may take a little more time to get it up and going.

I'm actually really excited because one of my kids at work is actually looking into new songs by new Kpop artists. It's really fun to talk to her. We have so many things in common. The only thing is she's not a fan of Suga from BTS. But Jungkook is okay too.

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No one in the command center in Wellington, New Zealand, had slept for a day and a half. Thirty-six hours had flow by and not one adult had slept. The children had slept in the corner under the ever watchful eye of their father, but no one else had.

The best scientists the Guardian Council had trained had worked effortlessly day and night for their machine to work. Unfortunately when it had finally done so, the vortex signature was gone completely. They had gone back to the literal drawing board.

That's where they had run into a huge wall. It was easy to tell the difference in a human and a wolf by flashing an infrared camera at them. Wolves ran higher body temperatures but Guardians and Magickal peoples were hard to differentiate between regular humans. The only way to know who was who was to ask and people lied. So they were back to square one.

Square one was so far away from Cloud 9 that it was disappointing. But Baye had taken that time to inhale as much knowledge as she could. She had learned so much in the waiting period than she had in school.

She glanced over to the corner where her family was. Donghyun and Jeongmin each had one of the boys in his lap and were sleeping with their backs to the wall. They had worked just as tirelessly as she had. Both had had issues with Leo, but he was still family and he was missing with others.

She thought about how gentle he had been ever since they had met. He had been her shadow, opting to travel with her even when Jeongmin and Donghyun were there. He was a gentle giant who had frightening powers over shadow and sound when riled. And she missed him.

She missed his steady presence. He had always been there even when she had fought with someone. She hated that he was stuck somewhere unknown without a way home. When it had happened before, it had nearly cost him his life.

The scars on her face throbbed with sadness. They had been through so much together and she was useless to him. She wondered if he hated her for it. Did he hate that she had gone away days before he was once again taken?

Baye was deep in thought when a white cup and bag were set in front of her. She looked up to see Jun Pyo lowering himself in the vacant chair. He had a matching cup in his hand.

"Don't think too much about it," he said. "It's just going to make you sick."

"I'm already sick," she replied as she opened the bag. "Who would do this? Who would take three perfectly innocent people?"

"Someone who hates you and know who they are."

She scowled at him. "Well, don't sugar it at all."

"There's no reason to. You know people hate and want to kill you. What better way to draw you out than by killing people you love?"

"Oppa!"

Jun Pyo waved her off. "I'm not saying they will, but it's a possibility." He cursed as his head went forward. "Aish! Really!"

Woo Bin wasn't the least bit sorry that he had cuffed him in the head. "Quit scaring her," he scolded.

"The truth is scary," Jun Pyo argued.

Ignoring the richer man, the oldest one switched his attention. "Someone's here to see you. Well, two someones. They say they know where our wayward people are."

"Do you trust them?" Baye asked.

"Absolutely."

"Send them in."

"Noona!"

Baye knew the voice before she ever saw the face. Hyunseong made a beeline for her and the two men. As he passed, he woke his brothers. Jeongmin and Donghyun placed the boys back on the pallet and wandered over. Donghyun was rubbing his eyes before he even realized what was going on. Then he went from shocked to displeased.

"Yah! Cho Dae Jin! What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Oppa," the young woman with Hyunseong whined, "don't be mad."

"Don't be mad? What are you doing here?"

"She knows where the group is," Woo Bin said.

"Jeongmin-ah, grab him," Hyunseong advised.

Jeongmin didn't have to ask why. He grabbed his friend by one arm as Hyunseong took the other. It took a moment for the statement to sing in to the older man's head, but when it did, he started for his sister. All Jeongmin and Hyunseong had to do was tighten their arms.

"How do you know? You can't possibly know. They're Hunters!" he said as he pulled against his friends. His anger was peaking and the consoles were starting to crack and whine at the timber of his voice.

"Cho Donghyun!" Everyone stopped at the subtle command. Baye sat with her cheek pressed against her fist. "Enough. I don't care who she is as long as she had information. Now sit down and shut up. You can rant later."

Without a word, Donghyun sat in an empty seat and sulked. Baye rarely pulled rank on anyone. She was a more go with the flow type of person. But when she did, no one had a choice but to listen. As it was, her skin and hair were starting to band with green and silver, a clear sign she was getting angry.

When everyone was seated and quiet, Baye motioned for Dae Jin to sit in front of her. The other woman followed. Skillfully and with her New Zealand accent, she switched to English so she could converse with both women.

"How do you know Leo?" she asked.

"He was with Representative So Yi Jeong at the peace talks," the woman said.

"This is Creed Jones. She's part of our team," Dae Jin said.

Baye raised an eyebrow as she scratched her ear. "Our team? I thought you were going to school for computer science."

Dae Jin looked like a fish so Baye waved off the comment. "Forget it. That's not important right now and it's not my fight. What I want to know is where my boys are."

This time it was Creed who looked dumbstruck. "Your boys?"

Anger peaking, a blue band started to inch its way across Baye's face under her right eye. Quietly, Jeongmin walked from his spot behind Donghyun to stand behind his wife. He sat on the console, wrapped his arms around her neck and propped his chin on her head.

"Jagiya, now is not the time to show your temper," he advised.

Baye slid backwards slightly into his arms. Jeongmin tightened them until he was holding his elbows. Slowly the blue disappeared, but the green and silver remained. As long as the red wasn't prominent everyone was relatively safe. Unless Jeongmin used his electricity on people, which he was known to do on certain occasions.

Her attention was back on the two new women. "To answer your question, those three men are my friends and family. Not only that, but Leo is a part of me in no other way anyone is, not even my husband. Looking down is not something you should do because I the best bet if getting your friends back."

"Dasha's injured and Hyuk has a concussion," Dae Jin said. "Leo and Yi Jeong are in good hands with Benji but sometimes she can't control her wolf on the full moon."

"Do you know where they are?"

"They were on their way to Portugal."

It took Baye a moment to figure something out, and everyone one knew the look on her face. It was the one she took on when she was putting puzzle pieces together. It could be very disconcerting for people who didn't know the woman.

"She's a telepath isn't she?" Baye asked.

Dae Jin nodded. "And a telekinetic. She tried to stop the vortex but was unsuccessful. They landed in Morocco and had to get to Portugal via the Strait of Gibraltar. Last I heard they were on a boat."

"That was nearly six hours ago," Creed added. "It takes thirty-five minutes to sail across the strait. Altura, Portugal, is probably where they landed. If they're on foot, it would take twice as long as the nearly three hours to get to Lisbon."

"So you have no clue where they currently are," Woo Bin surmised.

Dae Jin shook her head. "No. All the tracking devices were disabled by the vortex. I have no way to find them."

Jun Pyo sighed and chunked his coffee cup in the garbage. "We'll have to wait until they contact us. That could take forever, especially if Dasha is a telepath. They can hear each other."

"That is true but Dasha has a glitch in her telepathy. Since she's both wolf and Guardian, her animal gives her extra protection when she uses telepathy. Unfortunately, she hasn't learned how to sync any of her wolf traits to her Guardian ones so it taps her out faster."

"What would happen if she could?" Baye asked.

"Her powers would rival yours."

Baye sat still for a good long moment, her mind racing with all sorts of thoughts. "Does anyone else know?"

"Benji does and she knows how to handle it since we've seen those powers sync up only once," Creed explained. "Much like you, Dasha doesn't remember doing it because she technically didn't. She was in danger and her wolf spirit synced with her human one to protect her."

"Are you scared about what she can do to our friends?" Woo Bin asked. He was starting to get defensive and little drops of water were condensing on the computer console.

"Dasha won't hurt them?"

"Can you promise?" Jun Pyo wondered.

"No. Friendly fire is common."

"Who will they be heading to?" Baye asked to cool everyone down.

"His name is Ronaldo and he's part of the Underground," Dae Jin said.

"Why would she go there?" Woo Bin asked.

"If she wasn't a Hunter, she would be part of the Underground, and everyone knows it. Once she gets to Ronaldo, we'll know more info then."

Baye sat still for a few moments biting her lip. Jeongmin knew his wife was thinking deeply. He nuzzled her hair and sighed lovingly.

"What do you think, Baye?" Woo Bin asked.

She sighed and crossed her arms. "We should wait and see what happens. If we're going into the Underground abruptly there may be more casualties. I'm not willing to risk anyone. If Leo doesn't make it through, it wasn't because I did something stupid. Oh, and one more thing. It wasn't that I didn't know what I was doing when I released my power. It was that I didn't know what I was so I couldn't understand what was going on. Your friend has known what she is since birth. Those are two completely different concepts."

With that, she stood and headed over to the corner to pick up her boys. The three left the room with Jeongmin following close behind.

Donghyun turned his gaze to his younger sister. "Why?"

That simple word had Dae Jin bursting out in tears. She left her seat and fell across her brother's knees.

Donghyun's heart dropped as he heard her crying. Without preamble, he uncrossed his arms and held her against him. He hadn't seen her in nearly six years, and he was nearly yelling at her.

"Dasha is really nice," she said. "She paid off the small debt I had accumulated, and she has given me a better house that what I was living in. I don't have any friends, Oppa, except these three."

"She's right. I'm from Africa and barely spoke any English when I came here. Dasha and Benji took me in and we became a team. They don't do things to hurt people if they don't have to. Dasha is actually shy. She doesn't go out of her way to do things like that," Creed said.

Donghyun didn't need to hear anything more. He gathered his sister and escorted her out of the console room. That left Hyunseong with Woo Bin and Jun Pyo.

"What are we going to do?" he asked.

"What can we do?" Jun Pyo sounded perturbed. "We have to wait."

"By doing that we have no clue what we will receive in the end," Woo Bin acknowledged. He crinkled his nose. "I don't like that thought."

"Me either, but Baye is right. We have to wait or else we incite a war we can't win."


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: I finished this chapter a while ago, but I haven't wanted to type it up. I haven't wanted to do much of anything lately. Even on spring break I didn't do much. Now that I'm back at work, it's gotten worse. So if I get these next two chapters up and disappear, don't worry. The story will finish.

I have been watching Descendants of the Sun though and all I can say is daebak! Song Joong Ki has killed this drama. I want it to continue but I don't want the emotional roller coaster.

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Dasha was aware when they arrived in Lisbon, but she was too sick to do anything. She had lost her lunch even before they had even left Altura. It had gone downhill from there after that.

Leo had been a trooper. He hadn't said a word as he had carried her pretty much the entire way. She had thrown up on him twice and was pretty certain he still smelled like it. But he hadn't argued or said anything.

They had entered Lisbon much longer than they should have. It should have only taken a couple of hours. Benji had had to have a reason to take as long as they had. Traveling on foot had had a reason behind it as well. There was barely any way anyone was going to be able to track them on foot.

Dasha's head had throbbed since leaving Altura. She didn't know why, but the only voice she had been able to hear had been Leo's. It could have been because they were in close proximity to each other. It could have also been because Dasha had been busy trying to keep from getting sick that she had tuned everyone out. Whatever the reason had been, Leo had been the only voice in her head.

That had proven to be a curse because as soon as they had entered Lisbon things had progressed quickly. Things had gotten heated. She could barely remember seeing Benji and Yi Jeong fighting their way through the streets. There had been only so much the two could do before they were swept away by the crowd.

Through it all, Leo had kept a firm grip on her. She was certain he had been ordered to hand her over, but Leo was stubborn. He wasn't going to back down without a fight and more than likely he would win. He obviously didn't fight often, but he could and would. And his powers were dangerous.

She remembered the firmness changing so she knew she had been taken from her companions. It had changed again and she had been put on some sort of table. She had felt someone pinching her arm hard enough to make her wriggle in pain. Through it all she hadn't woken up.

Fire burned through her blood and she felt like dying. Who would torture her like this? Why would Benji allow this? Through the haze, she wished she could wake up, but whatever she had felt rush through her veins was keeping her firmly under.

Everything was so quiet in her head she was unnerved. She wanted to touch someone, if not physically then mentally. All she could hear was her heart pumping and her blood rushing through her ears. She could feel her muscles spasming so hard she wondered if she was having a seizure.

Searing pain lanced through her skull. She wasn't sure if she cried or not.

(*(*(

Leo cringed as he heard the ear piercing scream from the back room. He had dealt with vomit covering his shirt for hours as he had trudged through Portugal. He had dealt with hunger on the tromp. But he couldn't deal with that scream.

When they had arrived in Lisbon, they had been cornered and searched. They hadn't had any weapons on them so they had passed through but with a guard. The Underground had been alerted to their presence and wanted everyone to be on guard in case they were followed.

They had tried to take Dasha but Leo hadn't let her go. He had tightened her arms and legs around him. They hadn't given him a reason to hand her over.

Benji had been on guard but she hadn't been concerned. She had known these people but hadn't said anything about them. They hadn't asked any questions as they had led them through the city.

They had been frisked upon entry to the reinforced and secret building. Ironically it was in one of the federal buildings. It was several stories below ground and it had all the amenities need to be underground.

When they had been cleared, Dasha had been forcefully taken from them. All her weapons had been taken as they had whisked her away to the infirmary. Leo had wanted to go after them but Benji had held him back.

Now they were listening to what could only be described as torture. Hyuk looked like he was ready to cry. He played with his fingers and cringed at every high pitched shriek. Yi Jeong and Benji didn't look too faze, but the hairs on their skin were raised.

A tall, tanned man came to them wiping his hands. Sweat rolled down his face and he looked tired. He stood in front of them with his hands on his hips. He looked ready to have a mutiny.

"You took your sweet time," he said. Benji glared at him. "Put your wolf eyes away. Your friend is safe."

"What was it?" Benji asked.

"It's a mixture of poison and magic. Luckily for you I am skilled at both." He pulled two devices from his pocket and handed them to Yi Jeong. "Your batteries are dead or will be. We're going to get you home within twenty-four hours but that's the least of your problems."

Benji frowned. "What is it?"

"The last of the Maker line is headed towards New Zealand to take out your last Wild Power or whatever you call it. She's at risk right now."

Yi Jeong sat up a little straighter. "What?"

"You need Dasha. She's the only one who can truly help."

"Who are you?"

"His name is Ronaldo. He's the one we've been looking for. He's got the connections to get us where we need to be," Benji answered.

"How are you going to get us home?" Yi Jeong asked.

"It's a secret."

"Ronaldo," Benji scolded. It sounded more like a growl.

He winked with a smile. "But no, seriously I can't tell you. It would compromise many well to do people in this country. Just know that when Dasha wakes up you will be on your way to New Zealand."

Benji sighed. "That means the Underground's ties go all the way up the chains of the government. What happened to being underground? And I don't mean literally."

"How do you think we got all this?"

Benji wasn't pleased with his answer but she didn't argue with him. He was very charismatic and that kind of made up for his non-answers.

"What is the time frame for her recovery?" Yi Jeong asked.

"It's not pretty. Dasha is very fit and lean, but she doesn't have a natural defense against magic so when she went through that vortex it made her sick. So sick in fact that she couldn't metabolize the poison. So it made her sicker. I thought I was going to kill her but she made it through. Give her a couple more hours. She won't be able to fight but she'll be mobile."

"What if we need her before then?" Hyuk wondered.

"You won't. We're under the federal buildings. No one is dumb enough to attack the federal building. It would be seen as an act of war. South Korea will definitely get involved since we're under the embassy."

Benji made a noise. "You would build under the embassy."

"It's the safest place."

Leo was tired of the discussion. He sighed and pressed his chin to his fist. He was getting annoyed. He knew they were going home but that wasn't the issue.

"Where is she?" Yi Jeong asked. He had been watching Leo. The younger man was slowly getting agitated.

Ronaldo seemed lost as he looked between the two men. He chewed on his bottom lip as he tried to decide if it was a good idea to tell them. The more time he wasted, the more Leo fidgeted. The more time Leo fidgeted the more upset Hyuk became.

Yi Jeong finally sighed. "These two want to see her. Let them ease their troubled minds about her well-being. We can plan while you do."

He seemed at ease when Benji nodded. "Second door on the right after you leave this room. It's heavily guarded."

Leo left the room with Hyuk clinging to his shirt. They were stopped as they came to the door but were let in with one word from Ronaldo. The guards glared at them as they passed through the door but didn't say anything.

They were getting way too used to seeing the people they cared for laying on a table. Baye, Donghyun, Hansol and Jenissi were just to name a few, but they were used to it. Their jobs were dangerous and at any point they could be attacked. It was a risk they all faced. Their lives went on with a gaping hole as the person recovered.

Dasha actually looked peaceful. Her hair had been washed and tied up. Someone had dressed her in a light tank top and had covered her with a thin blanket. She was pale but that was to be expected since she had lost a lot of blood.

Hyuk walked over to the hospital bed and took Dasha's hand and ran his thumb over it. He didn't stay too long because this affected him deeply. She had risked her life to save him, all of them.

When he was gone, Leo settled in the chair by the bed. He wanted to lift the sheet and check out the scar that would be left on her abdomen. He didn't know too much about Ronaldo but he wondered how his healing abilities were.

Sighing, he pressed his head to her sallowed cheek and closed his eyes. He didn't speak but he didn't have to. Nothing he said was going to make any of this easier.

(*(*(*(

Dasha felt hot as she came out of whatever drug Ronaldo had given her. Many medications didn't work on her so his had to be something illegal. He didn't have a perfect moral compass when it came to medicine.

She rolled her eyes a couple of times to adjust to the low lights. Her wolf was still kind of drugged so she snarled in agitation. Dasha did her best to calm her even though it had little effect.

Groggily she rolled over to her good side. It took a minute for her to be able to open her eyes, and when she did, she was pleasantly surprised. Leo was asleep by the bed. How long had he been there?

Her throat was clogged so she couldn't talk. She pushed one arm under her head and watched the man as he slept. He was obviously tired. She didn't blame him for sleeping. He had been sucked into a vortex, attacked in the desert, and had carried her all the way to Lisbon. He had done a lot in only a matter of days.

His long hair fell in his face and his gentle breath made the ends flutter. She had seen him angry, hungry, annoyed, and many other emotions. Peace was not one of them. She wondered how much he had bottled up since this tragic adventure had started. Would he settle down after he returned home?

Dasha lifted a finger and pushed a lock of hair out of Leo's face. He stirred, making a tired sigh as he rubbed his eyes on his arms. He blinked slowly as his gaze settled on her face. She smiled gently as he rubbed his face was his hand.

"How long have you been awake?" he asked.

 _/Not long. My vocal cords are paralyzed due to the medication. I'm going to have to talk like this for a while./_ she said.

"Does Ronaldo know you're awake?"

She waved a hand that had a device attached to it. _/He should./_ Not too long after that the man bustled through the door. _/Speak of the devil./_

"You know how to scare people," Ronaldo scolded. "Shocking your system is one thing, but howling is quite another."

 _/Sorry./_

He scowled. "Don't say something you don't truly mean. We both know you like causing a little bit of trouble."

He watched as Leo helped her sit up. When she was situated and covered, Ronaldo looked her over again. He frowned slightly and moved the strap of the shirt. He vividly remembered her wolf mark was on her back and her Guardian mark was on her shoulder. Somehow they had merged.

"Dasha, you need to be careful. Your marks have merged. I don't know what it means, but it could get bad," he cautioned. She nodded. "Good. I'll get you some clothes. You're headed to New Zealand."


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: I wasn't going to put this up with chapter 7, but I finished it so I figured I might as well. It took a long time to write because I was so busy these last few weeks. It may take a little more time to finish this story. I have no clue how to end it. We'll see if I get inspiration over the weekend. I won't be writing for a couple of days because my best friend is coming to town.

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Alarms blared throughout the entire compound. Lights flashed in time with the noise as an automated voice announced an intruder. People ran to and fro trying to set up protocols.

Baye wasn't fazed as she sat in the lab and watched the computers for any sign of the intruders. She wasn't seeing anyone but that didn't mean they weren't here. Beside her Creed and Dae Jin were stoic. It was almost like they knew something.

The time between the alarms blaring and ending was way too long. They waited what little silence they could muster. When the alarms cut off, they were left with an eerie silence. Everyone just stood around doing nothing as they waited for something.

The doors slid open and Woo Bin walked in with Yi Jeong and Hyuk following him. Baye let out a repressed sigh and watched for the last person of her missing group. Leo was slow in coming when he hated to be late.

She was about to go after him when he came through the door. But he wasn't alone. Baye frowned as the Dark Guardian carried another woman on his back. Yet another woman followed behind them carrying an armful of bags. Glancing at Hyuk and Yi Jeong, Baye noticed her three were wearing clothes not their own.

Protectiveness shot to the front and Baye moved to Leo as the man carefully dropped the woman to the chair. When he straightened, he stepped in front of the newcomers as Creed and Jin filled in the side and as Ravi, N, and Ken walked in with Donghyun. They looked between the two friends, waiting for something to happen.

But the most curious thing happened. The other woman reached out and caught Leo's arm before things could escalate. Leo turned away from Baye and turned his attention to the new women, effectively shocking everyone and taking the fight out of his leader.

Baye watched the emotions play over Leo's face as his fingers moved effortlessly over the woman's. she wanted to say a bond had been formed but it was so much more than that. There was something more under the surface that she could place but couldn't at the same time.

It was Donghyun who broke the awkwardness. He walked over and knelt in front of the three women and his sister. He looked them over then smiled as he grazed his sister's cheek. His smile was his gentle lilt that meant he was at peace.

"I take it you're Dasha." He said it matter of factly. "Thank you for taking care of my sister. She spoke fondly of you."

Dasha smiled but didn't answer. Annoyance roiled to life once again in Baye but Yi Jeong touched her arm. When she looked at him, he shook his head.

"Due to medication, her vocal cords are temporarily paralyzed. She will be able to talk shortly but right now we don't want her making any noise. It could cause some serious damage," he said.

"In the meantime, I can answer any of your questions. My name is Benji Smith."

Everyone found a seat as Benji filled in the last four days. She told everyone about the vortex, Morocco, and the Underground. She spouted things about magic, the Makers, and everything of any importance. She touched on Dasha and the group's selflessness when it came to saving people.

When the whole tale was done, the others who hadn't been involved were left feeling helpless. Baye once again looked at Leo. He was seated but his attention was divided. Shifting her focus point, she looked at Hyuk. The young man was sitting with his back to Dasha's knees. She didn't seem to mind as she seemed to ignore him.

"It's good that you are safe with us again," Woo Bin said. "Should we stay here?"

Dasha shook her head but Benji answered. "It's safer in numbers. You need to be around the people who know how to protect you. Plus we just had a new development occurs so it's of the utmost importance that you are safe," she said.

"What happened?" Jun Pyo asked.

"I told you we were attacked on the boat to Portugal and how that had ended. Ronaldo noticed Dasha's Guardian mark and her wolf mark have merged."

"What does that mean?"

"I watched her destroy a boat," Yi Jeong said. Everyone looked at him. "It shot up into the air and exploded. The power of the two lineages combined is impressive. We could use that."

"Not only that but she has ties to all the Alphas in the world. They don't like it, but they live with it," Benji added.

"Do we know why the Makers are coming?" Baye asked.

"It's not the Makers; it's their descendants. And no we don't."

Jun Pyo scoffed. "Are we to believe you? We don't know you."

"But you know me, and what they say is true. We are in trouble if we don't get home. We are stronger in numbers. Plus we have a secured room where Dasha can train," Yi Jeong stated.

"Why should we do that?"

"Because Hyun Joo is going to need someone who can help her when she gets older."

Everyone stopped at the mention of the little girl. She was the only child everyone in the house felt sorry for. Her birth had come about after horrific instances but she was loved wholeheartedly. Jenissi had married not too long ago and his wife adored his daughter, but she had no idea of the situation.

 _/You know I'm telling the truth./_ Baye looked into the eyes of the other woman. She stared back levelly _. /Why would I lie? Why would I put your entire family in danger?/_

 _/Why wouldn't you?/_ Baye asked.

She watched as something in woman's eyes changed. The consoles in the room started to rattle. Chairs jumped all over the floors. The lights flashed, strobing slowly first then picking up speed until they were blinding.

Baye felt the banding spread across her skin, but Wild Fire wasn't coming to her. It remained buried, frustrating her to no extent. But Dasha never attacked. She held everything in check.

The doors to the room opened and two black headed little boys burst in. Everything stopped and went right back into place as the twins climbed into their mother's lap. The power play was over with the children in the room.

"Bring her to Korea," Baye said.

(*(*(8

Dasha felt weightless and lost. She had gone to sleep in New Zealand but didn't know where she was currently. Her head throbbed with angry abandon. She couldn't fight it. It pulled her under and kept her wrapped in it angry cocoon.

Weightlessness suddenly became a freefall. She could see through the mist as she plummeted through the inky blackness. Flailing, she tried to stop her momentum but only succeeded in spinning around.

She tried to scream but nothing came out. Either her voice was gone completely or it was still frozen. No one was going to hear her. She was going to die.

The mist cleared and she saw a grove of trees right under her. Dasha formed a plan. Should she smack into that she was surely dead. Freefall was like that and without a parachute she wouldn't survive the landing.

Formulating a really stupid and reckless plan, she would try her best to catch a tree limb to slow down. She could drop to the forest floor from it. That is if the force of the impact didn't kill her first.

Spinning around, Dasha went down feet first. She steeled herself for the impact, groaning as the upper branches of the tree smacked her. It scraped her arms and face, slowing her down significantly. But it didn't stop the pain that shot through her ribs as she slammed into a huge bough.

"Dasha!"

A loud voice woke her up. Jolting, she realized her hands and feet were bound. Looking around, she saw Hyuk, Yi Jeong and Leo holding her extremities. Groaning she tugged gently and they let go.

Blinking slowly, she looked around. This wasn't the plane she had fallen asleep on. It was an elaborate room, huge with two full size beds. While she occupied one, someone she had only seen in Leo's memories sat on the other. She had no doubt she was in South Korea.

She looked at Leo. He met her gaze levelly but his stoic expression had returned. Looking around, she spotted a blond headed guy who was hovering close to Baye and Benji. Antagonism rolled off him.

Dasha met Leo's gaze again with a smile. _/I don't know who is more jealous. You or him./_

Leo snorted then looked at someone else. "She's feeling better."

An auburn haired man frowned and looked up from scribbling something. "How do you know?"

"She's making fun of me."

"Must be difficult to stand," the man on the other bed said with a smile.

Benji ignored everyone and looked at Dasha. "Can you sit up?"

Dasha nodded and sat up, leaning her head against the headboard. "What happened?" she asked, frowning at her voice.

"We're not sure. You were asleep on the plane so you were carried here. Then this happened," Baye said. She was in her wheelchair to conserve as much energy as she could just in case they were attacked. She would need her feet and legs.

"She had a nightmare," Benji stated. "Which one was it this time? Running into something?"

Smiling, Dasha shook her head. "Freefalling into a tree."

"Well at least you're consistent."

"Do you often dream of such things?" the auburn haired man asked.

Dasha watched him until Leo gained her attention. "He's a doctor. Yoon Ji Hoo," he said.

Her new acquaintance sat on the edge of the bed, much too close for comfort. Dasha had read the man's file. He wasn't a fighter but he wasn't passive either. He would clock someone then patch them up afterwards. He was also the only member who had barely had a scandal.

"He wants to treat you," Leo continued.

"I'm fine," she said.

"Oh, bull!" Benji snorted. Silence settled over the room. "Being stabbed and poisoned is not fine. Now let the man treat you before I hold you down."

No one said anything as the two teammates stared at each other. Dasha tossed the covers off her legs and stood. With a defiant look in her eyes, she lifted up her shirt to show an angry red and jagged cut that was held together by stitches.

"All I need is a bandage," she said. With a flick of the wrist, the black material fell back in place against her skin.

Leo slid his arm around her waist without thinking about it, pulling her against him. "Everyone went through an evaluation. It's mandatory to live in this house. You have to do a stress test too. If you don't then you can't stay here."

"Who said I wanted to stay here?"

Angry, Benji held up a hand. "Don't push it. One eye has already changed colors. The wolf in her feels threatened. I don't know if it's everyone or just one person, but her powers have merged. We could easily enter into something we can't win."

"What should we do?" Baye asked. "I won't let her hurt my family but if she's the best chance at fending off the Makers, I need her whole."

"Everyone should leave for now. Give her time to adjust to her new surroundings. You can introduce yourselves at a later time."

"This is Leo and N's room. Why should they leave?" the blond headed man asked.

Benji looked at him coldly. "Your attitude really sucks, Jeongmin."

Baye nodded. "I nearly kicked him out of my class because of it. But he means well. He's just nervous about everything since our entire family is here."

"I can understand, but antagonism isn't the way to go."

After much debate, Ji Hoo ushered everyone out with a promise that he would see Dasha. Leo stayed though and helped Dasha back in the bed. He sat on the edge as she pulled the blankets up around her chest. She looked at him with one blue eye and one gold.

"This is my family as well. Please don't hurt them," he said.

"I'll try not to, but I can't promise anything." She twitched briefly. "Do you mind if I change?"

Shaking his head, Leo watched her get up and step into the middle of the floor. She stripped bare as her skin started to blur. Fur erupted from every inch of her body as her legs shrunk and her arms bulked up. All her fingers and toes merged and the nails lengthened into black claws.

She dropped to all fours as the fur lengthened. Her head doubled in size and her mouth and nose elongated. Her teeth sharpened and became glistening white fangs that could rip the flesh off bones.

She shook her entire body after the change and hopped up on the bed again. Like a canine, she turned a circle then laid down with her head in his lap. Leo rubbed her ears and listened to her huff out a breath. Her fur was a soft pelt of gray and white with splashes of black, almost like she had splattered paint all over herself.

"So this is what it's like to pet a wolf," he muttered.

 _/I can talk too./_ she said, making him laugh.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: So I had inspiration today during work but I was too busy to write. When I got home, I wanted to unwind from the stress of the day. So it's taken me this long to write this because of my day.

My plan is to make this fourteen chapters. I have this chapter and the next one planned. I will have to wait until these two come out for the next ones. It may only be thirteen. It depends on the plot twists.

My playlist on this chapter included the entire albums for B.A.P's _Carnival_ , Monsta X's _Rush_ and Block B's new one plus Topp Dogg, Vixx, High4, History, and iKON. I can't write without music considering most of my characters are based off KPOP idols. Check out these guys who have taken over my entire life.

(*(*(*(*(

"Why is there a wolf in the living room?" Jenissi asked. He shook his head immediately. "No. That's not what's important. Why are the kids laying on an unknown wolf that is in our living room?"

Baye looked from her desk wedged in the corner of the playroom/ living room. Her twins Jae Mi and Jae Kyun, Ji Hoo's foster son Shin Woo, and Jenissi's two year old daughter Hyun Joo sat or pulled or laid on the wolf version of Dasha. The animal allowed them to do whatever they wanted as long as they didn't fight each other. Every now and then they would hear her sigh as the kids stopped whatever it was that they were doing, but as soon as they picked up momentum again, she was stoic.

Across the room on the black chaise that looked more white with animal hair, Leo kept a close eye on what was going on in the room. He had a book open in his lap but more often than not he was watching the rambunctious kids. He was the only one not concerned about the kids playing with an unknown wolf. But then again, kids had a different outlook on life than their parents. The same went for these kids.

Just then Jae Mi shoved his brother. Before anyone could think to do anything, the gray and white wolf lifted her head and growled. All the kids stopped what they were doing and looked at her. Jae Mi immediately hugged his brother and all was well with the world. Once she was convinced that the kids weren't going to hurt each other, Dasha laid her gray head back on the carpet as Hyun Joo rubbed her ears to comfort her.

Baye looked up at her oldest friend with a shrug. "She doesn't seem to be unknown to them."

Jenissi rolled his head to look down at her with a Not-Helping look. "Do you even know her?"

"I know of her. If you want more information, ask Yi Jeong or Leo. They know so much more about her than I do."

"You'll let just anyone in here won't you?"

"She saved our lives. You know as well as I do that as soon as we left New Zealand our compound was bombed. We could have been in it if she hadn't come."

They had heard about the bombing on the news a day and a half after they had left. It had been a suicide bomber who had come to take the lives of the Wild Power and her family. Unofficially, meaning to the general public, it was just some lunatic who had had a grudge against a computer company. Insurance had covered the building but they had all been safe.

The Underground had gotten word to them about the increase in intelligence searches. The Halflings as they were officially being called were doing their best to get any and all information on Baye as they could. But not only did the Guardian Council have such great computer analysts, so did the Underground. They had walked Jin through the trials of setting up an alert system is someone tried to hack into Shinhwa Group's computers. So far nothing had happened but that didn't mean it wouldn't.

Though she had been in her animal form, Dasha had helped Benji give information they thought would be pertinent to protecting the house and the family. The wolves had been put on full alert and had formed their own watch shifts. Since there were twenty-five of them, everyone had paired off into groups of five, and four groups took a five hour shift while the last shift took four. They kept an eye on the properties and could easily call for backup if it was needed.

Dasha had pulled a favor, though no one was really sure how since the woman had been a wolf since she had arrived. A week after their return, a truckload of supplies had arrived. Food, clear drinking water, medical supplies, and emergency rations had been delivered and stored just in case something drastic happened.

But the biggest shipment had been weapons. Baye had argued with a canine that weapons were not allowed in the house until she had been blue in the face and angry at the animal who stared up at her with ice blue eyes. Dasha had silenced her with the simplest fact that the full moon was upon them. Even though Baye wasn't as affected, the rest of her family was.

If the Halflings had any sort of brains, they would separate the wolves from the rest of the pack. With half of the Guardians under the effects of the full moon, it would only leave six people left to defend the house. They were walking into a massacre at that point. They needed the weapons just in case. So they had stored them in the empty room by the medical clinic.

There wasn't much the Hunters had left out. Jin had gone out and had bought a few gas cans which she had filled and stored in the pool house along with a generator and water proof supplies. Benji had stocked about eighteen first aid kits and had put one in every car as well as an emergency kit should they be separated. The cars gas tanks had been topped off and kept full just in case they needed a fast getaway. Everything had been thought of by four women who didn't seem like they could come up with any sort of plan.

Dasha huffed across the room and hefted her huge body from the floor. Hyun Joo rolled off her back laughing hysterically. She jumped up and raised her arms to be picked up. Dasha turned her fuzzy head to look at her then hunkered down just enough for the toddler to pull herself up onto her back. The little girl fisted her hands in the scruff of the massive neck and held on as the wolf stood up and padded from the room. They could the incessant babble as they disappeared down the hall. A few minutes a door opened and closed again. They had gone outside.

In the corner Leo turned around and looked out the window just as the two came into view. Baye could see Hansol's blond head as he and his brothers B-Joo and Byung Soo handled the third watch of the day with Yano and Xero. Though Byung Soo was technically a minor, he had been involved in every decision that had been made. He was also one of the fiercest fighters because the kid had trained in mixed martial arts before his wolf side had been exposed. He was currently help train some of the younger wolves just because he needed something to do.

"Will she be able to train Hyun Joo?" Jenissi asked as he watched his daughter run around Dasha as the animal sat outside in the sunlight.

"We won't know that until Ji Hoo evaluates her. He can't do that until she's human. Right now she seems to be content as an animal," Baye answered, turning back to the grades she had been putting in the computer.

"It's easier to heal the body when it's smaller," Leo said. Jenissi turned to him even though the man continued to stare out the window. "She's still suffering the effects of the poison. Her wolf has a higher metabolism so it works faster at restoring her correct functions. It shouldn't be too much longer."

"How do you know all that? I know we haven't told you."

"It's amazing what you can hear when there's a telepath in the house," Baye said.

"You're not going to force her to change back?"

"Only half of her belongs to me. I can't force the wild side of her to obey me. She's not part of your pack so she's not bound by the rules your guys follow. She's also not part of Shinhwa Group so Jun Pyo can't boss her around. She outranks him anyway since Hunters are held to a higher standard than the rest of us save the Wild Powers," she explained. He raised an eyebrow at her. "I've done my research. I wanted to know what grounds I had to boss her around. Sadly I don't have many. The ranks go Wild Powers, Councilors, Hunters, and everyone else. I barely outrank her and with my limited knowledge, I can't help but admit I need her expertise. I don't want to boss too much and push her away."

"Even though you're jealous."

Baye looked at him then and watched his face. She hadn't hidden the fact that she had been jealous of the sudden bond that Leo had formed with the woman. Ever since she had taken her position, he had been at her side constantly dogging her every step. Now his eyes had been turned from her. It felt weird. Leo had had undying devotion to her and now it had changed in the blink of an eye.

Everyone had treaded carefully since everyone had been back in South Korea. They hadn't wanted to upset her by bringing it up. But Jenissi had always been different. He hadn't cared that she was hurting and upset about a new fact in their lives. He was going to say what he thought without thinking of the consequences. He knew Baye wouldn't do too much to him.

"It's a mental thing," Leo said suddenly. "We're mentally connected. I don't know how it works but no matter what I did, I always sought out her mind. Even on the plane now that I think about it. She was sitting beside me on my way to New York. I remember feeling something brush up against my mind. Now that I think about it, it was her. She had known this was going to come at some point and she had wanted to know who I was."

"You're saying she can see the future," Jenissi observed. "There are only seven who has that ability."

"And there are two Hybrids and a Wild Power in one house. If you have learned anything, you should know that the impossible is possible."

"He's got you there," Baye acknowledged. "Until I showed up, pretty much everyone thought Wild Fire was a myth. Now look at us. We have twenty-five wolves and many Guardians who weren't considered human. I think our impossible has become quite possible. There's nothing we can't accomplish as a group, but we have to be united."

 _/That's what I've been trying to tell you./_

They all looked at Dasha as she padded through the door. Hyun Joo tottered beside her, hand fisted in her side. She chattered nonstop until the gentle wolf nudged her with her nose. She plopped down in the floor and began playing with her toes as she mumbled something under her breath. Dasha sat down beside her, bushy gray and black tail wrapping around the child's back.

 _/She talks quite a lot. It's amazing to listen to a child's brain work. She's very smart, although she thinks the twins are idiots./_

"You can talk to her?" Jenissi asked.

If she had been human, Dasha would have smiled. _/She doesn't talk to you?/_

"No, she just strings together nonsense. We were beginning to think she had autism or something."

Dasha looked at the child, wolf head tilted as if she was listening to something far away instead of the brain right beside her. After a minute or so, she snorted. The rush of air ruffled the girl's black hair, making her laugh.

 _/She's a completely normal Hybrid child. Nothing's wrong with her brain. She may not talk because she's trying to figure out how to use her voice. It's too soon to tell what power she will have, but Hybrids are as rare as Wild Powers. You should be able to see what she will be able to do in the next few years. That is if she isn't killed first./_

Baye scowled at her. "Why would you say that?"

/ _It's the truth. You've already been through it at least four times. If they succeed in killing you, everyone has to wait five hundred years for a new Wild Power to be born, and no one knows when the next Wild Fire will manifest. The same goes for Hybrids. It takes a special set of parents to bear and raise a Hybrid into maturity. Most Hybrids are killed before anyone can find out if he or she can even become a wolf. Society doesn't want to chance it and no one wants an uprising to the already tentative balance. It took too long to gain it, but inflict one small nick and it will all crash down like a glass wall with a single spider vein./_

Jenissi waved his hand around in front of his face for a moment. "How far is your broadcast range?"

 _/I can talk to anyone I have had previous contact with and hear their responses. That includes if I'm halfway across the world. To talk to someone I don't know, I have to be in the same country. It's not an exact science and I know a couple telepaths who don't even have that range. We all guess it's due to my duel lineages. Which is why you need someone like me to train Hyun Joo./_

The co-alpha turned to his Alpha. "She's got a point. We have no idea what we're walking into."

Baye looked at Leo. "Did you tell her who Hyun Joo's mother was?"

Leo shook his head. "Not specifically, but if she's been in my head since the flight to New York she would have found it floating around in there."

 _/I was curious as to why he and the others smelled of sweet cherry blossoms with a mixture of burning brush. I had to peek to find out./_

Leo looked at her. "Is that why you pressed your nose to my shoulder? I thought you were asleep."

 _/I was, but I was curious at the same time./_ Contrary to her completely human mind, her wolf body lifted its back paw and scratched behind her ear. When she was done, she sneezed. / _The constant scratching is the only thing I don't like about being like this. It drives me nuts./_

Baye made a face as Jenissi laughed. "Do you always spout nonsense?" she asked.

Dasha's tongue lolled out of her mouth as she offered a toothy grin. _/Only when things are too tense and when I have a feeling I may die. At this moment those two things are quite possible./_

Shaking her head, Baye went back to her grades. "Keep being a smartass. You'll figure out why my husband doesn't say much around anyone else."

"Well if I had a face that looked like his I wouldn't say much either," Leo said.

That last comment had Jenissi laughing so hard he fell to the floor as Dasha barked out a laugh then whipped around until she was sitting in the door. It would be an easy get away if she needed it.

Baye turned slowly in her chair. She dared Leo to say one more word. He didn't have to however. He had already hit his mark. So instead of speaking, he allowed a slow smile spread across his face.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: So I had the first of this chapter typed up already and my computer deleted it when I was trying to copy and paste. I was so mad because I had to rewrite it. I know what it said but it's the fact that I had to rewrite it. So I poured me a big glass of chocolate milk and here I go.

I have been teaching myself Korean. I am slowly able to read Hangul! Now that I have somewhere I can study, I have a feeling I'm going to absorb the language pretty soon. I already known the consonants but the vowels are giving me some trouble. I'll just have to make flashcards so I can memorize them. I spent three hours teaching myself today.

(F(F(F(F(

Dasha ran the treadmill with ease. She had woken up a couple of days ago completely human. Somewhere in the middle of the night she had changed back. The angry red wound and stitches were still there but she wasn't in as much pain as she had been before.

Ji Hoo had come to see her as soon as she had woken up. She had been a bit annoyed because he had decided that he needed to see what her strengths were. It boiled down to the fact that he wanted to be nosy and see how far he could push her. Unfortunately for him she was very fit and well trained. She could handle just about anything he threw at her.

Thankfully he had decided to wait until she could actually move. When she had first woken up she hadn't wanted to move. He had noticed that and had told her he would wait. Although his patience had worn thin over the week and a half she had been there he wasn't going to push her. Leo had been her guardian through it all and she had suspected on more than one occasion the doctor was a little wary around the man.

Currently she was strapped to a long tube that pumped oxygen into her lungs as she ran. The blue plastic was connected to a tank that was plugged into the wall. She also wore heart monitor to see how fast her heart was pumping. She felt like she was being tested for heart disease. But all Ji Hoo wanted to know was if she was healthy and able to defend them if she needed to. She could have told him she was but he had to see it for himself.

So she ran, and as she ran, she sweated. She was certainly glad that he had told her to wear shorts, a light tank top or sports bra, and tennis shoes. She was drenched from head to toe. Her bronzed skin glistened, the tattoos on her shoulders and abdomen more than anything. She was running at the second to last highest speed and incline the treadmill could go but she wasn't paced out.

Ji Hoo clicked his pen as he made a note on his clipboard then reached for the treadmill. Slowly the incline raised to a forty-five degree angle as the belt turned faster ever so slightly. Dasha pulled up onto her toes as her shoes found traction with the belt. Her legs pumped harder as she ran uphill. She heard the heart monitor scream as her heart rate skyrocketed. Her ears buzzed with the thrill of a blood rush. She felt like she was on a hunt.

Her abdomen started to sting. She had taken the bandage off at Ji Hoo's request to let the wound breathe. As she had run, sweat had started to pour down her entire body. Even her legs were wet. The wound had been affected as well. Since Benji had stitched her up on the run, she had kept it covered and hadn't moved too much. Now the wound was being agitated because of the salt in her sweat.

She wriggled ever so slightly as the throbbing burn became nearly unbearable. No sooner had she done so, she felt the skin pull as the stitches ripped. She glanced down briefly as blood flowed freely down her side into the waistband of her shorts. The nurse panicked as Ji Hoo quickly cut down the machines and went for his first aid kit and medical bag. Dasha was walking at an easy pace when he returned and turned the treadmill off completely.

The doctor kneeled in front of her as the nurse unstrapped the oxygen mask and pulled off the sticky tabs from her chest. Dasha grunted as Ji Hoo removed the remaining stitches that hadn't pulled apart. He used a local anesthetic to numb the oozing wound and stitch it back up. She stood there, grateful for the pain. It was so much more bearable than being stabbed and poisoned. She could handle a needle sliding through her skin any day.

She wondered why her wolf was eerily quiet. Usually the beast would be itching to get out. She didn't like needles or anesthesia so she tended to fight. As Dasha looked inward, she saw her animal completely at peace. It baffled her. The normal humans in the house had been wary of her because of her dual lineage, the other wolves had ignored her save Jenissi, and the Guardians were weird. The only ones who had had anything to do with her were the Dark Guardians of Leo's group and Yi Jeong. Not that it had bothered her since Benji, Creed and Jin were here.

But why was her other half so quiet? Could she feel how easy this man was compared to Jun Pyo whom she hated? She had a good sense since she was an animal. Was it because Ji Hoo was trying to help while Jun Pyo tried to cause fights that he couldn't win? Whatever the reason, Dasha the human and Dasha the wolf were completely at ease around this man.

Ji Hoo looked up and she knew he had seen her thinking face. With her riotous curls pulled away from her face, he could see it clearly. She had had her lips pursed out as she had thought deeply, but not deeply enough to push her thoughts to anyone else. She had a bad habit of doing that when she was in deep, deep thought. Benji scolded her more about that than she did for being reckless. If she pushed far enough, Dasha could fry the brain. Who knew what she could do now that all her powers were synced.

"Try not to rip these," he said as he slapped a huge bandage on the stitches.

"Last time I checked that was your fault. You're the one who wanted me to do the tests," she retorted. He made a face at her. "How long do I have to keep them in?"

"They'll dissolve within a week. Don't get them wet."

She nodded and accepted the towel his nurse gave her. "Can I go eat now?"

Ji Hoo looked her up and down. "You may want to go put a shirt on first. I don't think any of the women in the house want you walking around like that."

She made a face then left the medical ward. Not normally concerned about physical appearance, Dasha pulled on her loose tank top as she walked. Living in a group of four was completely different than in a group of thirty or forty. Three other people didn't particularly care if she ran around the house half-naked. They did it as well so they couldn't say anything.

She ventured into the kitchen to see parents giving children lunch. Glancing at the clock, she realized she had spent more than two hours in the clinic running. Her stomach growled in anger. It was just as unhappy as she was.

Striding further into the kitchen, she went to the fridge. Dasha was a picky eater so half the stuff in the fridge she wouldn't eat. Fruit and vegetables were the only items she would consider eating. Though she was half-Taiwanese on her father's side, she didn't really like noodles or dumplings or any sort of wheat or yeast products. The only yeast bread she ate was pita bread and it had to be smothered in hummus.

She felt a tug on her knee and looked down. Hyun Joo looked up at her with her big golden brown eyes. Rubbing her wet fingers on her shorts, Dasha reached down and picked up the toddle, resting her on her hip as she went back to her food selections.

Without asking, Yi Jeong took the fruits and veggies from her and began cutting them. She watched him silently as Hyun Joo played with her hair at the base of her neck.

Leo and Baye came around the corner from the living room and stopped in the doorway. They watched Dasha as she stood by the sink with Yi Jeong and Hyun Joo on her hip. Jealousy ripped through Leo as he watched the scene closely.

"It seems like Hyun Joo really likes her," Baye said. She waited until Leo looked at her. "Jealousy doesn't suit you. Yi Jeong is married and Dasha seems to like you. If you can't figure that out, you're dafter than I thought."

Leo watched her roll into the kitchen to her husband and children. Before now, Leo had always felt jealous of Jeongmin. Not because he had been in love with Baye, he had had always been grateful that she had saved them. His love for her was completely different than the younger man's.

But what he had longed for was something Jeongmin had already been given. He had a family. He had two beautiful sons given to him by a wonderful woman. He got to do everything a father could do.

As his eyes shifted around the room, they finally landed on Dasha. She was watching him closely, her eyes steady. He felt his heart stutter when she looked away and made noises at the girl on her hip.

"Appa!" Hyun Joo squealed then wriggled free of Dasha's grip and slid down her leg before scuttling to her father. Jenissi scooped her up and she pointed back at the woman. "Nice."

Jenissi followed her chubby fist. Dasha raised an eyebrow at him. "I don't understand why she likes you."

"We're the same," Dasha said as she bit into a pepper.

"Have you always been alone?" Hansol asked. He was busy feeding his daughter Han Byul a bottle.

Benji slung her arm around Dasha's neck with a hop. "I've been with her since we were twelve. That was nearly twenty years ago."

"Eonni is nearly thirty-two," Jin said when everyone's faces registered shock, even her brother's. "Creed is twenty-six in American age, twenty-seven in Korean."

"I thought you were younger," Baye said. Dasha looked at her sideways. "We're the same age. Or there about."

"There are many things you two have in common. Why don't you get along?" Yi Jeong asked.

Dasha and Baye looked at each other. It wasn't that they didn't get along. They didn't know each other. As far as she knew, Dasha had pissed everyone off. Normally she wouldn't come in guns blazing. She was usually pretty passive. Not too many people tried to kill her on a regular basis. Only when she hunted was that the case.

"She's not too bad," Baye said. "Although I don't exactly know what her power is or what it does."

"I would show you but there are children in the room," Dasha said. "I don't hurt children."

"Even if they're trying to kill us," Benji added. "Remember that girl in Somali who held that AK to your head? You had every option to take her out but didn't."

"Why didn't you take it?" Jeongmin asked. He was busy making sure the twins didn't throw food across the room like they were known to do.

"She was twelve and trying to protect her family," Jin answered, to which Donghyun glared at her. She quickly held her hands up. "I was an hour away at our hotel. We wear cameras to monitor each other. I saw and heard through the camera and ear piece."

Dasha and Benji glared at her until she looked at them. Slowly Jin shrank back into her chair. Those two stares could melt metal.

"Don't get us in trouble," Benji scolded. "We don't have any family to answer to about our whereabouts. We're not the types to stay in any one place for too long."

"Are you saying you won't stay?" Baye asked.

Dasha shrugged. "Who knows. I've never belonged anywhere so it's kind of odd having people other than Creed, Benji and Jin to count on."

She didn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings, but Leo felt his heart twist. She was going to leave no matter what happened. She wasn't going to stay. She had flown all the way around the world and wasn't going to stay.

He wanted to say something but his chance was taken away from him when Woo Bin, Jun Pyo and Kang Hee Soo led someone else into the kitchen. The wolves were up instantly and bowing respectfully. The Guardians stood at attention as the man looked around.

His eyes fell on Dasha. Glancing at her, Baye noticed her face had shut down as she watched the man walk over to her. Dasha and Benji didn't bow; they didn't do anything. They stood where they were and stared. Benji's emotions weren't as schooled as Dasha's so they could tell what she was thinking.

"What's going on, Kang Hee Soo-ssi?" Baye asked.

"This is James Meredith. He has come to talk to you from the Alpha Association," Hee Soo explained.

Benji snorted. "Is that what you're telling people nowadays, James?"

"You know him?" Baye asked.

The other woman nodded. "He was part of Dasha's pack when she was younger. He was also trained with us when we went to become Hunters. Unfortunately he has one minor flaw. He thinks he's allowed to have any woman he wants because his father is an Alpha."

Yi Jeong looked at Dasha. "Was his father the one who killed yours?"

Dasha shook her head but didn't say a word. She stared at the guy like she was going to kill him. Jin got up from her seat and crossed the kitchen. She touched Dasha's hand gently then stepped behind her. Creed came in the back door and hoisted herself up onto the counter directly behind Dasha as Benji sat on the stool in front of her. The three were daring James to come closer.

James just smiled. "It seems you would rather keep your gaggle of girls rather than join me on the council. You could do so much more good if you were just in the top spot."

"You mean if she was your wife," Jin corrected. Donghyun was up and standing behind his sister. "I don't know why you're here, James, but it's obviously not to simply say hello."

"We got word from the Underground that the four of you were going to help defend the Wild Power against the Makers. I've been sent to tell you that if you do that, you will be cut off and your protection rescinded."

"Do you suits not realize what the hell is going on?" Creed demanded. James's eyes narrowed on her. The things in the kitchen began to shake, forcing the parents in the room to remove their children. But Creed never backed down. "You people sit up there in your brass house not knowing what's really going on out here. What makes you think that once they take out the Wild Power they won't turn to us? They will take out the Alphas first then go after us."

"They've made a deal with the Halflings," Dasha said.

All hell erupted in the kitchen when James attacked. Shoving Jin into her brother's arms, Dasha jumped to meet him. She dove low and caught him around the waist. Spinning around his back, she pushed her weight forward and drove him chin first into the ground. She grabbed his arms and pulled them up behind his back. Benji tossed her a piece of twin from the chicken that was going to be fixed for dinner, and Dasha tied his hands behind his back. Then she sat on his back and draped her arms over her knees.

"And you wonder why I wouldn't marry you," she muttered. Sighing, she ran her hands over her face. "What was all promised?"

James tried to lift up but she sat higher up on his shoulders. "Why would I tell you?"

"Don't make me rummage around in your head. It would only be worse."

"We could always make things worse for you and your father," Benji said. He tilted his head so he could see her. "Boy, you better be afraid of me more than Dash. She's the nice one out of us. She's just sitting on you while I would have gutted you for running at us from across the kitchen."

Dasha looked over her shoulder. "Jeongmin, can I borrow your power for a minute?" The younger man didn't waste any time. He strode over and crouched in front of them, one hand glowing faintly and arcing with electricity. "If he touches you, he can send you into convulsions so violent you'll change back and forth from your human to animal form. If you're lucky you won't have brain damage or die. Now what are you going to do? Are you going to tell me what was promised to the Halflings, or am I going to allow Jeongmin to fry the hell out of you?"

Behind the Hunter party, Shinhwa Group looked nervous. They had never had too many dealings with the Alpha Association. The two groups had stayed separate since the days the Guardians had wiped out almost all of the Wolves. The remaining Wolves had formed the Association and had refused to discuss any details with the Guardians when they had reached out. They held longer grudges than most of the Dark Guardians did.

But Dasha was a mix of both groups and she had been shunned by both. Yet here she was defending one group who hadn't had anything to do with her while the other had killed her parents. No one had asked her to and no one had watched out for her when she had needed it the most.

Baye locked the wheels of her chair and pushed herself up. Jun Pyo and Woo Bin steadied her then let go when she took a step forward. She pushed her husband gently out of the way and sat in the floor in front of James. Jeongmin made a noise before Jin and Donghyun pulled him back. They did so just in time because Baye reached out and took the arm of James, whose skin suddenly began to smoke and burn. He let out a scream and thrashed about as he tried to get away.

"Hunters! Wolf Hunters and Guardian Hunters that have been trained from childhood until adulthood," he confessed.

"How many?" Dasha asked. When was gritting his teeth against the pain, she grabbed him by his hair and yanked his head up. "How many kids are you sending to them?"

"Thirty, thirty of the best and brightest from around the world. Dasha's name came up as well. They want you," he spouted.

Dasha looked from Creed to Benji to Jin to Baye. The two women looked at each other. They didn't know each other. They hadn't said more than a few hateful words to each other, and yet Dasha decided to defend the entire house without anything other than hateful words.

Making up her mind, Dasha rose up and gripped James's chin and forehead. With a violent twist and a sickening crack, she broke his neck without remorse. Baye fell backwards on her butt as she stared down at the lifeless body in her kitchen floor. Shakily she looked up at the woman who had caused it. Dasha looked at her without remorse.

"First rule about hunting, when you get information, kill the informant if they will be an issue," Benji said.

Jeongmin glared at her as he held his wife around the shoulders. "I thought you said she was gentle."

"She is, but she's not afraid to kill."

Dasha stood and untied the deceased's arms. "Benji, arrange for disposal." As her team moved, she looked at the nervous couple. "You can be afraid of me. I'm used to that, but don't say I killed unnecessarily. If I had let him go, he would have come back and killed you."


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: This is uber late, but I have been sick. Like I have been hacking up a lung for the last week. The last thing I wanted to do was type up a story. The chapter is finished but I didn't feel like typing it.

I had another surge of brilliance as I finished this chapter and started on the next. My plan was to cut this short at fourteen but the plot has thickened and I have to extend it a bit. Not that you guys mind. You'll love reading what I have planned.

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Leo found Dasha in the strangest of places.

On the roof.

The house was three levels excluding the attic and basement and she was on the roof. But she wasn't just on the roof. She was laying down like she hadn't a care in the world.

Like she hadn't just broken a man's neck in front of everyone.

She seemed completely at ease with her riotous curls flared out behind her head. She had one leg drawn up as her hands supported her head. Her eyes were closed as she seemed to be absorbing the sun.

Slowly she opened her eyes and stared at him. His heart stuttered. Not because he was attracted to her. That had been a given since he had met the woman. He had tried his hardest not to touch her when she had been near him, and sometimes he had failed miserably. But that wasn't the reason his heart was beating a mile a minute.

Dasha normally had a light shade of gold for her eye color. It was much lighter than Hyun Joo's but it was usually prominent. Since the days they had spent in Portugal, one eye had steadily started lightening. Last time he had seen it, it had been a pale, silvery blue. Everyone assumed it was because the two lineages that made up her genetic makeup had finally merged. No one was really sure.

So in the nearly three weeks he had known this woman, he had only ever seen her golden eyes. But what looked at him now was not human. The eyes were so blue they were almost white. They were her wolf eyes. They were cold, deadly and ever so watchful.

He sat down slowly but roughly. His backside stung but he didn't dare move. He didn't want to be a moving target, especially on a roof. That was a recipe for disaster.

Leo felt her stare boring into his back. The hair on the back of his neck and on his arms stood on end. He was in a very dangerous position with his back to her. She could easily kill. All it would take was a shot to either side of his neck. In this instance, she was the predator and he could be the prey. With that being said, he was nervous but not scared.

He heard her move behind him but stayed as still as possible. She slid up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Her front was pressed to his back and her hair tickled his neck. Her nail cut through his shirt and dug into his skin.

"Why are you hiding up here?" he asked.

"No one judges up here." Her voice was gravelly, almost like she was growling.

Leo loosened her hands then laced her fingers with his. "No one is judging you."

She snorted, warm air flashing across his neck. "Maybe you didn't see the same looks I did. The people in that room judged me the second I did it."

She sighed and nuzzled his neck. "We probably won't be here too long after this incident is dealt with. We have other obligations."

"Other obligations?" He didn't like the thought of them leaving. "How far does your telepathy work?"

"All over the world. I talked to Jin while in Morocco. I can talk anywhere." She poked her head around to face him. "Why? Are you scared you'll never see me again? Or is it that you think I'm going to another guy?"

Leo looked her square in the eye as his thoughts roiled. He didn't feel her pressing into his mind as he thought. He didn't want her to leave but he wasn't going to ask why. Something tickled his mind at the mention of another guy, but he didn't put it out there because he wasn't sure he wanted to really know.

Dasha disappeared behind his back again, nestling into his back. Leo tightened her arms around him and stared out over their neighborhood. Everything on the outside was so peaceful but inside their grounds was utter chaos with people milling about.

Dasha felt her other half rumble in discontent. The wolf at the forward was settled slightly and slipped beneath the surface. She was peaceful even though she was injured. This was a first for that even though she was alert.

The thought of leaving troubled her briefly but she knew staying was not an option. She had shown what a Hunter did. She was not a diplomat like Baye and others she knew. She hadn't been trained to be one. She was muscle when force was needed. There was nothing delicate about her.

"Dasha! Are you up there?"

Benji's voice echoed through the stillness. Dasha sighed and untangled herself from Leo. Without a care in the world, she slid to the edge of the roof and looked over. Benji sighed and shook her head.

"I don't even want to know why you're up there, but you need to come down. Lee Jung Min is here," she called.

Dasha sat up in agitation. "I really don't want to talk to him."

Her friend squinted into the sunlight. "I don't think you have a choice. You're the one who cause the mess. You have to clean it up."

The phrasing annoyed the woman on the roof but there was no other way to say it. Dasha had been the one to pull the trigger. She had created the mess. She had to deal with it.

The woman scratched her ear then stood. Leo hear Benji call something to her friend, but he couldn't make it out. His mouth dropped open when Dasha dropped from the roof. He scrambled over to the edge to see her walking across the lawn. She never ceased to amaze him.

He carefully dropped to the ground and hurried inside. The foyer and formal living room were packed with everyone in the house. The last time that had happened had been when Jenissi had gotten married. The kids weren't anywhere to be seen so they must have been taking a nap.

Leo pushed past the wolves and walked into the living room. Dasha stood defiant in front of a well dressed man. There was clearly animosity between them that permeated throughout the room. The twenty-five wolves in attendance were torn between standing at attention to this high ranking wolf or follow Dasha.

"Well I've never seen this," Ji Hoo muttered. Leo looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "In their society, two things are absolute. Blood lineage and dominance. Dasha's blood is tainted with Guardian blood but she's more dominant than this man."

"How do you know?" Baye asked. She was standing on the other side of the man holding on to his arm. Her other side was supported by Jeongmin.

"It's in the tilt of his shoulders. He's so much more on edge than she is. His hands are folded in front while his are in her pockets. This isn't her home but she's at ease even though many of us are scared of her."

"Will he attack her?" Jeongmin asked.

Ji Hoo shrugged, a slow rise and fall of his shoulders. "I don't know."

Across the room, Dasha stared at Lee Jung Min. He was the Korean diplomat for all the peninsula's wolves. He got his job by unsavory means but was good at it. He had kept a star who shall remain nameless out of trouble when he had changed on camera.

He and Dasha had only come in contact once before, and that was when Dasha had saved his life. He had been grateful and had given her one get out of jail free card. Now he was here to warn her.

The only problem with that was Dasha wasn't in the least bit fazed by the man. Yes, he was a powerful, powerful wolf, but his dominance level was way lower than hers. He couldn't force her to do anything. In reality, no Alpha really could.

"Did you kill him?" he asked. She gave him a DUH! look. He looked concerned. "Why?"

"He was under the assumption I was going to let him kill people in this house. He was sadly mistaken," she said. No emotions were relayed in her voice. It was like she didn't care.

Jung Min sighed heavily then stomped once. "Do you think about your actions? Do you know how much work this is going to take to clean up? I thought Hunters were supposed to be peaceful."

"Have you ever seen a Hunter who is peaceful? We may be peaceful in every day life, but we're business on a job. The most peaceful person on this team is probably Jin, but she's not to be underestimated. She can scrap if she needs to," Benji explained.

"Your leadership is considerably lacking, Dasha."

"Then take me out." Jung Min's face fell at Dasha's demand. She stared at him as his body reacted to the subtle command. "Take me out. Put someone else in my place. Half the people who even associate with you will leave."

Jung Min was baffled. "Do you know anything about politics?"

"I know blood buys more respect than money. How much of the former have you shed?"

The man just stared at her. "You're going to get killed if you do this. No one will protect you. Not even Shi Yoon. His hands are as tied as everyone else's. You're in this alone even with your dominance level surpassing everyone."

"She's not alone," Benji argued. She tossed her arm around the woman's neck. "She's got me."

"And me," Creed seconded.

"And me," Jin tossed in.

Donghyun pushed his way from the back and stood behind his sister in quiet vigilance. Kwangmin, Youngmin, Hyunseong, and Minwoo filled in behind him. Though torn, Jeongmin filled in the space to Donghyun's right.

Baye followed her husband, and F4 followed her. Slowly all the wolves and Dark Guardians stood at attention and in unison with Baye. Dasha didn't dare look around because at any moment any one of them could be ripped from their lives. She wasn't going to acknowledge this because if she did, it would mean how much she cared.

Jung Min's eyes begged her. "Dasha, you're bright and young. You're probably smarter than all of us by aligning yourself with the Wild Power, but you're also setting yourself and your team up to be a target. You're going to get killed. Rethink this. Please, please, please rethink this. If not for your team, then for Shi Yoon. Think of how he would have to live without you."

"Shi Yoon was fine before me and he will be fine after me," Dasha said. It was a bold comment that her emotions vehemently betrayed. Still she didn't budge.

He wasn't convinced. "You've been with him since you were fifteen. He's not going to be fine, but it's your choice. Don't be surprised if you're on the most wanted list."

He bowed to them and excused himself as discreetly as possible.

It took some time for emotions to settle down. No one left the living room, opting to find a seat wherever there was space. It was awkwardly quiet for no one wanted to interrupt anyone else's thoughts.

Dasha never moved from her spot. The look on her face was one of pure torture. Whoever Shi Yoon was, he had a profound impact on her life.

"Dasha," Baye coaxed as she sat down on the couch. "Who is Shi Yoon?"

"He's a high ranking wolf on the Hunter's Council," Benji answered instead, her eyes glued to her friend.

"That's not what I meant." The woman thought carefully about her next question. "Who is he to you personally?"

Dasha seemed to snap out of it, but the look she gave the other woman was very troubled. "Shi Yoon is the man I love the most in this world but he's also the one I can't have. So we've been friends who would kill and die for each other."

"You think I can read her mind? You should see Shi Yoon do it. One look is all it takes," Benji explained.

"What does it mean for Leo?" N wondered.

Benji shrugged. "It doesn't mean anything. If he wanted Dasha, he needs to go after her. Shi Yoon doesn't pose any threat." Dasha snorted. "Well, unless he tries."

"And if he does?"

"Then it's up to Dasha, but I'm not a telepath so I can't tell you what she'd say."

Leo looked at Dasha. She didn't meet his gaze like she normally would. She didn't say anything to him. The sting of those words was potent as she remained silent. She didn't defend herself. Not that she needed to. Not everyone could be that honest about everything. So far Dasha hadn't had an issue doing so.

After a few long and strenuous moments, Dasha strode from the room. Though her head was high, she wasn't her usual confident self. Benji never moved as her friend left, signaling that once again Dasha had to be alone.

"Leo," she said in a voice that was barely above a whisper. "Don't seek her out. Let her come to you. If you don't, all of this could be the end if it isn't already."

She didn't wait for him to say what he would do. She was gone in a matter of seconds, leaving them sitting in the living room.

Baye looked at Leo and her heart hurt for him. He had started investing in someone only to find out she had someone else on the side. She had no idea how this was going to go. If it went his way, he was going to be ecstatic. If it didn't, it may crush his spirit.


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note: Sorry this has taken so long. I had it typed up then my phone decided to delete it. I was so mad because chapter 13 is still intact. I don't know why. But here is the chapter. I was so mad that I didn't want to type it.

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"Do you know the trouble you have put me through?"

"That seems to be everyone's favorite saying today."

"Dasha!"

She looked up at the computer sitting on the table before her. She had been writing everything when her Skype had dinged. She had pulled it up and had looked into Shi Yoon's face.

He hadn't been angry when he had talked. He had been more concerned than anything. She had noticed that he had changed his hair color again. Now he was a dark mahogany. She actually liked it more than the blond he had been sporting previously.

They had talked simply about what had happened in Morocco. He had asked if she was okay, to which she had answered yes. Her side still hurt but she was otherwise okay.

If she had gone immediately home, he would have been waiting on her. He would have come to see her and would have stayed until she had gotten better. Things would have settled down and life would have gone on.

But she was in South Korea and he in New York. She had opened her big mouth and had committed to a side. Unfortunately it was a side he couldn't cross into. He was steadfastly aligned with the Hunters and had been since birth. If he wanted to leave, it would be in a body bag.

Since they had met nearly twenty years ago, he had protected her. No matter what was said against her, he went to bat for her. He had pulled so many strings at the top of the pecking order that it was amazing he still had a job. He had put in long days and even longer nights to make sure she had been safe.

To say that Dasha loved this man would be a royal understatement. They had trained so hard together during their academy days that it had shocked everyone when Shi Yoon had gone into management. She had asked him one night why, and he had answered that someone had needed to protect them.

He had done well. Whenever they had gone out on missions, he had always been the one they had called for help. They had known everyone had fought but he had always won. Now she wasn't so sure.

They stared at each other for a long time. Shi Yoon wasn't even fazed at the color change of her eyes. He obviously remembered when her eyes were a simple gold. He seemed to take everything in stride, and that included her eyes.

He sighed and leaned his head on his fist. "Why do you do these things?"

"I didn't do it because it felt good. I did it because it was the right thing to do," she answered. "I'm sorry it's made your life hard. I didn't do it on purpose."

Shi Yoon sighed and rubbed his face. "DC, I'm tired and troubled. Everyone here is pressuring me to cut all ties with you. My father keeps pushing a marriage. He thinks if I marry someone I barely know I can forget all about you. I can't fight a war on two fronts."

She felt instantly horrible. A lump formed in the back of her throat. She looked away from the screen, taking instant interest in the paperwork on the counter. She swirled one finger on the granite, silently hoping her nail wouldn't scratch the surface.

"Dasha." She kept her head down even though the spoke. He changed his tone. "Dash, look at me."

When she finally did, he was very emotional. She couldn't look at him any longer without crying. She looked over the screen at the refrigerator. She could already feel the tears threatening to fall.

"I understand," he said. "I won't put any more pressure on you."

"Shi Yoon," she said. He looked at her. "I'll step down once this blows over. Unless they fire me first, but when I'm done, I'll resign my spot and disappear."

"Do you think that's what I want?" Anger filled his tone now, and the hard look in his eyes matched it.

"Does it even matter in what we want? Ever since I was a kid, I was told what had to be. Now that I'm considered nothing, it won't matter to them anymore. No one cares how we feel. All we have to do is follow orders. I've broken that. No one is going to trust someone who breaks orders regardless of how unfair they are."

Even three thousand miles away, Shi Yoon felt the heartbreak and torture the woman was going through. Out of everyone, she had had the hardest time getting permission to do anything. Even with the Councils' backing, people never wanted to give her work. She had fought hard for her position.

The door behind him opened. "Kang Shi Yoon, they're ready for you."

"Thank you." Shi Yoon looked back at the screen. "I have to go. I'll call you later."

Dasha nodded and the screen went black. Slowly she closed the computer and stared unseeingly at the fridge. She had known what had been at stake when she had decided to break with the code. But she hadn't meant to cause trouble for Shi Yoon. He didn't deserve it.

A hand landed on her back, and Dasha looked over. Expecting Benji, she was pleasantly surprised to see Donghyun and Yi Jeong. They looked sympathetic but it was Baye who surprised her the most. They had barely spoken to each other, and yet here she was.

"Would a drink help?" Yi Jeong asked. Dasha shook her head. "I guess it would make it worse."

"Are they coming to get you?" Baye asked.

"Probably. Unfortunately it could be before the Halflings get here. It could be the end for you," Dasha responded. She sighed and put her head on the counter. "I just want to sleep."

"You can't do that. I want to talk about Leo. What are your plans about him? You two seemed to have formed a bond, and I don't want him to think it's going anywhere when it's not."

Dasha sighed and buried her head in her arms. She didn't want to talk about this right now. Actually she didn't want to talk about it ever. She understood that Leo was under Baye, but his personal life wasn't.

Baye couldn't read the other woman's face. She was closed off from them. She reminded the other woman of Leo in that instant. He was good at hiding his emotions as well. Sometimes they didn't know he was mad until he lashed out.

"If you can't tell me about Leo, tell me who Shi Yoon is," Baye prompted.

"Kang Shi Yoon is the highest ranking Korean wolf," Jenissi said as he closed the kitchen door behind him. "He was trained from an early age to take over his father's position on the Hunter's Council. He's one of the most dominant males, but he's a gentleman."

His face sobered as he looked at Dasha. "No offense but how in the world did he align himself with you?"

"We had the same mentor." Dasha's voice was muffled as she spoke.

She finally got up and began to gather her things. "Rest assured. Once this is all over, I'm gone. Leo won't be affected too badly, and if he is, he will be fine after a while."

"So you don't like him?" Baye asked.

"I didn't say that, but I'm not stupid enough to make plans then break them."

"SO you get his hopes up?"

Dasha felt her temper rising. The hair on the back of her neck stood straight up and she could feel her teeth lengthening. Her blood roared; it was so loud it was all she heard. Once again, her relationship with Leo was hers. No one else needed to know where it was going. Everyone was just being nosy now.

She wasn't going to start a fight so she simply left the kitchen. Yi Jeong scratched his head and sighed. It took a minute for him to get his bearings as he looked between the closed door and Baye.

"Maybe we should face this alone," he muttered. "It's better than imploding as a group."

"We need her expertise. She's the only one who can tell us anything. Let me rephrase. She's the only one willing to tell us anything. I think there's more going on above her head than we realize," Baye acknowledged.

She unlocked her wheels and pushed backwards. "I'm going to talk to her. Don't let anyone anywhere near us.'

Jenissi slid the door open and Baye rolled out into the hallway. She knew exactly where Dasha would go that wasn't the roof. For instant relief from everyone, she would go to the garden. There was a koi pond and plenty of items from Zen Buddhism to make anyone feel at peace, even Roman Catholic Baye.

The garden had been created as an escape on the estate. Anyone could use it, and it was wheel chair friendly so Baye could move about it freely. She had really used it after the whole incident with the Wolves. She had been heavily pregnant and in a weird state. It had been her safe haven.

Baye rolled around one of the bends and saw a riot of curls bouncing in the nonexistent wind. But it was the swirling rocks, gross and shrubs that forced her to stop and understand. All of them had a tell for when they were upset. Donghyun got really quiet, Woo Bin literally had a mini raincloud follow him, and Jeongmin crackled and sparked. Baye's skin changed colors. It was their tell that something was wrong.

Dasha obviously spun things when she was upset. It was the sudden release of power that showed how upset they were, but depending on how sharp the burst depended on what type of hurt was being shown. In this instance, Baye was having a hard time distinguishing what anguish hurt the other woman more.

"Have you ever done something good only to have it backfire?" Dasha wondered aloud. Baye tilted her head as she waited. There was obviously more behind it. "I took the job in New York because I was told it would ease tensions. For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted relations between Guardians and Wolves to get better. I was a child when the purge happened. I remember bits and pieces. I remember being scared to leave the house. I don't want anyone else to feel that."

"But you went against orders?" Baye asked. She made a point to show Dasha she had heard everything the woman had said to the computer.

"You've never had to follow orders so you've never had to distinguish between fair and cruel. The orders I had were to exterminate those who were against us, but who's us? Since I can remember the Councils have always looked out for themselves, but the Hunters have looked out for everyone regardless of race or religion. How is it fair to destroy someone who isn't a Hunter?"

"That's not fair." Baye mulled over everything for a couple of moments. "How much do you know?"

"A lot more than the average Hunter."

"Can you share any of it?"

They sat for the next hour as Dasha exposed all of the Hunters' secrets. Baye knew the woman felt detached from everything. Everyone had been telling her she had thrown her life away. This was her last effort to make sure someone knew her information.

As she spoke, the look on her face slowly changed. She became extremely depressed, sighing when her brain worked faster than her mouth. She ran her hands through her hair in agitation.

Somehow, Baye got her to allow her to braid her hair. Dasha spoke as Baye whipped her hair into shape. Dasha finished speaking about the time Baye's fingers tied off her braid.

"You need a hug," Baye commented. "But not from me."

Dasha looked at her. Baye offered a smile then gently pushed her back down the path. She watched the older woman walk slowly back to the house. Then slowly she looked over her shoulder to see Jeongmin.

"Don't say it," she warned.

Jeongmin only smiled and held his hands up.


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Note: This chapter was so much easier to write. Now that I know what's going to happen it won't take much longer for me to write this. I feel bad that I haven't written much but I've been busy. The school year is almost over so I will have more time to write. This time next week I should have this finished.

If you have any new dramas you want me to watch and write about, I will. I'm still waiting for a Descendants of the Sun page. I'm not sure how to get one up.

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Leo was dreaming in the middle of the day. He hadn't slept the night before, and he was cranky. After the break down with the Hunters, he had gone to bed. He had waltzed up the stairs, changed clothes, and had fallen into his comfy bed. He had enjoyed its wonderful comfort as it had swaddled him in the sheets.

He had dimmed the lights, darkening the room to near pitch black. He had lain in bed as his mind had raced. He hadn't been able to shut his brain off so it had yapped at him. It raced with hurt and anger, but it decided it was more curious than anything.

After a long time, he had finally fallen asleep. His dreams had been awful but he hadn't been able to wake up. He had tossed and turned the entire time. He was certain N had tried to rouse him, but it hadn't worked so his friend had just left him alone in the hopes that he would wake up at some point.

Somewhere in his dreams, he had heard his name being called. He had imagined it being N but he honestly couldn't tell. He didn't really know where it had come from. But nothing he had done had awakened him.

Leo felt a weight on his shoulder that extended down his chest to his hip. It roused him enough for him to look down. There was a wealth of curly hair in his face. Content, he rolled over and wrapped both arms around the person. He didn't have to ask who it was.

Dasha felt the steady beat of Leo's heart under her forehead. His breathing evened out again as he went back to sleep. She settled down and slipped under the veil of sleep as well.

(8(8(8(8;8;8;8;8

Leo felt weird as he slowly came out of sleep. He felt as if someone were watching him.

The first person he saw was obviously Dasha. She had her face pressed into his neck and one arm wrapped around his waist. Her curls were matted and wild but she was at peace.

He was shocked when he looked around the room. At the foot of the bed in his desk chair sat a man he had never seen before. He had his fingers laced together with his chin resting on them. He looked thoughtful as he quietly watched the two.

Leo felt he knew this man. This had to be Kang Shi Yoon. His hair was cropped short but Leo could see the curls that had once belonged. His eyes were a lighter shade of brown, almost gold.

The two men looked at each other for a long time. Silently Shi Yoon stood and walked out the door. Leo took a little longer because he had to untangle himself.

They stepped outside and Leo watched the other man Leo against the railing. The sun caught Shi Yoon's hair and brought out the red lowlights from the dye. The man was muscular, ripples showing under his shirt. He may look like he was a wimp of a man, but one look at him close up showed that he was a skilled fighter.

"Dasha doesn't cling to people," he said. He didn't use honorifics so they were very close. "What did you do or what did she say to warrant that?"

"She's been upset since that man's death," Leo responded. He didn't know how much he should say.

Shi Yoon nodded. "She never liked James, but she wouldn't kill him unless it was needed. She's was right though. He was double crossing every council he was part of. If she didn't do it, someone else would. But it wasn't James that did this. So that means Jung Min is the culprit."

Leo shifted from foot to foot. "If you know all the details, why are you asking me?"

The other man turned around and leaned back casually. "Because you're the only one who actually sees all the emotions that she experienced. When you're quiet, you can do that well. It's why she's such a great asset."

"But you're not talking about her in a work way. If you love her as much as she claims, why not do away with society and do what you want?"

"You've been excommunicated before. How did that feel?" Shi Yoon picked at his fingers. "I'm the only son. If I am excommunicated, my bloodline dies. Plus my mother is very ill."

Leo understood. "That's why Dasha hasn't pursued you."

Shi Yoon shook his head. "That's not it. She did pursue me. But when my mom got sick, she backed off. Don't misunderstand. I love that woman. I have since I was fifteen years old, but the way our lives had formed means I can't be with her."

"Whoever decided that?"

"Fate, and my Korean heritage. I'm a hard ass but I'm a filial son."

"Then why do you keep her near you?"

Shi Yoon smiled. "Why do you keep your hand even though it gets burned?" Leo looked down at his hand briefly. "I can't live without that woman, but I won't burden her because my family thinks she's imperfect because of her corrupted blood."

Leo suddenly had a vision of Dasha watching Shi Yoon getting married. She would be standing at the end of the processional as he walked his new bride down the aisle. She would bow like everyone else and give congratulations to the happy couple. And when she left, she would hide away for days as she tried to get over the fact that he was married.

That made him mad. He didn't want to see the woman upset like that whether she liked him or not. He liked her enough to want to make her happy. Seeing her pining over another man was painful, but he wasn't married right now. If seeing her happy meant letting her go with him, he would let Dasha go with Shi Yoon.

"Dasha isn't selfish. If I ever told her I was getting married, she would grin and bear it. I don't want that for her," Shi Yoon said.

The two men looked at each other. One was a high ranking Wolf in his respective field. The other was an outcast that had finally been given a chance to prove what he could do. One had known the woman for twenty years and the other had seen her work under stress. They had seen two sides of the same coin.

"Shi Yoon!"

They both turned. Dasha leapt off the descending stairs and came running at them. She passed Leo altogether as she ran at the man she knew best. Without another word, she threw herself into his arms. Shi Yoon wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair. For a moment they looked like an intimate couple.

Dasha finally pulled away but she held on to his hand. "What are you doing here?"

"There's been a kill order that's been handed down. Your head is worth 3.5 billion dollars. Every Hunter will be out for you. Your team needs to make a decision," Shi Yoon said.

Dasha nodded and led the way into the house. Leo followed the two and took a seat when they found Baye and Jun Pyo in the living room. Dasha made the introductions, which surprised everyone because typically high ranking people made appointments to be seen. Shi Yoon had just shown up.

"I can't do anything. If I do, it's like I pick sides," Shi Yoon said after everything had been explained. He held tight to Dasha who was sitting beside him on the couch. "Benji, Creed, and Dae Jin need to make decisions. Are you going back to your families or are you staying with Dasha? If you stay with Dasha, the prices on your heads will be just as staggering. If you go home, no one will look into it."

Benji, Jin, and Creed looked at each other. They had spent so much of their time together as a group that it was hard to imagine being without one another. Benji turned to look at Dasha. The older woman was docile for the first time as they talked about splitting up.

"I can't speak for everyone else, but Dasha is my family. So I'll take the price," she said.

"I have never felt more at home than I have with these three women. I couldn't live with myself if I walked away," Creed said. "I'm staying."

Jin rested her head on her brother's shoulder. "My family is right here, but when I was overseas studying, these ladies became my home away from home. I won't leave them simply because death is a possibility."

Shi Yoon hung his head and looked at Dasha. It was a scorching look that could burn even the best of people. It hurt to look at them because it was easy to tell how they felt about each other. They couldn't hide it.

"Please go somewhere far enough away that they can't find you. Some place that only we know about. Maybe then I can find you," he begged.

She looked him right in the eye and shook her head. "I can't do that. I won't run. I'm not a coward."

"I never said you were, but this is too dangerous even for you. They know your weakness."

Dasha laughed and licked her lips at the same time. "Everyone here knows my weakness."

He was at a loss for words for a moment but then he gained his composure. He took her face in his hands and pressed their foreheads together. "Why do you drive me insane with your righteous indignations?"

"Why don't the two of you just get married and be done with it?" Baye asked.

"I will be disowned and we'll both be on the run," Shi Yoon said. "It's the only reason nothing has happened between us."

Jun Pyo snorted. "It's obvious the two of you have been intimate before. We can see it on your faces."

Benji started laughing. "I've walked in on them being intimate. But that was before Shi Yoon took his position on the Council."

Baye ignored the crude conversation. "What are we supposed to do with four people who are wanted criminals?"

"You have one of two choices. You can kill them and claim the money, or you can give them asylum. You are a sovereign figure to your people. What you say they will follow," Shi Yoon explained. He sat up straight as he spoke. "But I cannot follow. I took a big risk coming here. I will get one pass, but I can't have a second."

The women looked at each other. Dasha didn't beg Baye, but she didn't have to. It still clung to the other woman's mind of how she had saved Leo, Hyuk and Yi Jeong's lives, but hers as well. She wouldn't forget that for a long time. She would be forever indebted because of it.

"What would happen if I gave them asylum?" she asked.

"No one would be able to touch us," Benji said. "Asylum works the same for us as it does any other country. If you take us in, no one will be able to do anything without severe retribution. You could start a war because of it."

"Don't start a war," Dasha said. "They won't end well. And don't take us in if you don't feel like we would be of any worth."

Baye looked at her. Worthlessness was something they had all felt which was why they had banded together in the first place. They gave each other worth and that made them stronger than anyone else.

"How long are you planning to stay?" Jun Pyo asked Shi Yoon.

"Three days. That's when I can get out of the country without being spotted," Shi Yoon answered.

Baye rolled her bottom lip between her teeth. "All right. I've made a decision. Though I don't particularly like you, I don't want you kill. That would ruin everything. So, I grant you asylum."


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Note: I finally have time to finish this story! I will write like a fool this weekend and the days I don't have to work (when I get a new job that is) but after that, I'm going to take a hiatus to relax and watch some new dramas so I can write some more. I'm still waiting for Descendants of the Sun to be added to the fanfiction list so I can write for that.

After 14, there are only two more chapters to write. Hopefully I will have them done by Monday. If you are my pen pal, feel free to message me through private message. I will always answer that even while on hiatus.

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"Why do we always end up on the roof?"

Dasha looked over at Shi Yoon. They were situated like they usually were at times like this. One of her legs was tossed over his as her head rested on his arm. Anyone who saw them would think they were lovers.

But no one really knew what the two actually were. It took a lot of time and effort for anyone to find out. Even Benji, who had been with them since nearly the beginning, had a hard time deciding if they were lovers or just really close.

She looked back at the darkening sky. "Because no one comes up here. I'm not disturbed and it gives me time to think."

Shi Yoon sighed and ran his fingers through her hair. "You've always been a strange one. But I'm not the only one who thinks that it's a compliment."

"Leo?"

He nodded. "He really likes you. I don't have to hear the words. I saw it with my own eyes."

"That's still creepy."

"But you know I was there. That's not important right now. He likes you for who you are. And you're going to need someone in the near future."

Dasha turned onto her side and settled into his. "Aren't you going a little too far with this?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm not. I talked with my father before coming here. I agreed to the marriage in exchange for telling you in person and visiting. I have exhausted all of my resources to help you this time. There's nothing more I can do."

Dasha felt like crying but she had known he would make a huge sacrifice to make sure she was safe. For some stupid reason, they had always held out hope that things would change and they could be together. She wasn't even certain they would see each other ever again.

As if knowing what she was thinking, Shi Yoon pulled her close with his free hand. She felt his nose in her hair and heard him inhale deeply.

"You know I love you right?" he asked. "You're my best friend who I wish could be more."

Dasha didn't say a word because she knew she'd cry. So she held on as tight as she could suddenly her world was falling apart. She had never thought she would hold on for one last time. He had always said he wasn't going to get married to whomever his father had decided. He had always wanted to make his own choices, and so far he had. But her predicament had changed that course drastically.

But the hardest thing about all of this was never seeing him again. She had no idea who the prospective bride was. She had no idea what the woman would demand of Shi Yoon. Would she know that he couldn't eat oranges, fish, nuts or beans? Would she know that he was allergic to grass, the aforementioned food, and aloe vera? Would she know he hated bitter foods including coffee and that he dumped half the sugar bowl to make sure it wasn't? Would she allow him to name his eldest son Ji Hoon because he had always liked the name? Would she be willing to have four kids for him?

Would she love him above everything else and not care that he was one of the richest people in the world?

All of those things Dasha knew and loved. She hadn't cared that he had money. His heart had always been made of gold, and he had used that tenderness to take care of his family. After his sister had married outside of their "ranking", everything had been thrown on him, and he had taken it in stride. But the on black mark on his perfect record had been Dasha. The mutt as she had been called had been the only thing that had marred him in their society. But Shi Yoon hadn't cared, and that's what had made him so special.

So Dasha held on to Shi Yoon just as tightly as he held her because both knew this was the last time they would ever be able to do this again.

They were half asleep when they heard the same car roar through five times. It wasn't unusual for people to have the same make and model of car in this neighborhood, but it was the SAME car that kept coming through. It had a knock in its engine that was very distinguishable.

On the sixth time around, Dasha and Shi Yoon sat up on the roof, one foot drawn up underneath them as they watched the street on full alert. They looked at each other as if came around the seventh time. Dasha was already preparing those inside as she heard them scrambling to assemble in one spot.

"Do you think they're treating us as Jericho?" she asked, making a reference to how the Israelites marched around Jericho seven times before the walls crumbled.

"They're definitely scouting," Shi Yoon agreed, "but for what purpose?"

The hair on the back of Dasha's neck stood on end as four cars pulled up to the gate. One was their knocking scout that had driven the block. The windows rolled down and she caught the distinct smell of gasoline.

"They're going to blow the house up. Get off the roof!"

They jumped just as two Molotov cocktails shattered into flames right where they had been crouched. The following explosion of a regular bomb or grenade shattered their ear drums, forcing red goo to steadily drip along the side of their faces.

Shi Yoon sat up first and checked them over, his voice a very dull roar in Dasha's ears. She looked over his shoulder to see Benji escorting everyone out of the house and corralling the parents and children in the center of their huge circle. The others were coming out of the secondary house to put out the fire.

"Dasha," Shi Yoon said. She was slowly regaining her hearing because his voice was a little louder.

"I know," she responded, eyes sweeping the yard as she did a head count. "That's the last of our worries. Bombing is just a means of getting us from point A to point B. But what is point B?"

"Benji!" Shi Yoon called. "Make sure everyone comes here!"

"Eonni, what's going on?" Jin asked as everyone finally crowded together. Donghyun held his sister up as smoke marred her porcelain face. This wasn't the first time the young woman had been in a fire, but no one was about to tell Donghyun that.

Dasha closed her eyes and over the dull roar of the flames, she extended her hearing. She swept the grounds of the estate. Typically she wouldn't extend any further than she had to, but this was a dire situation. Someone was out to kill everyone in that house and she had to find out who it was. The only way to do so without walking into the trap was to use telepathy.

Sharp pain swept through her head, driving her to her knees. Benji and Shi Yoon dropped beside her, but she knew she was blocked.

"They're coming from the garden," she explained as she allowed her friends to haul her up on unsteady knees. "The fire was just a way to get us out back. They've given themselves away because we're out front. It takes away their surprise since the cars disappeared as soon as the house was on fire. But I'm blocked so I don't know how many we're facing."

After explaining a few critical things, they formed a plan and hunkered down in the front yard. Ji Hoo administered first aid for those who needed it with the help of Hongbin. Some of the guys shifted so eighteen wolves roamed the front in alternating paths.

Dasha and Baye planned everything that needed to be done. Somehow they had to get out to get help and food, but most importantly the kids needed to be safe. The twins and other babies were sitting with Jenissi's and Hansol's wives as the women did their best to console the frightened children.

They had no way of knowing where the men in the cars had gone or if they had even left. Since Dasha's telepathy was out of commission, it was a hard thing to deal with. They were in limbo as they waited for the next thing to happen, and that was scarier than anything else.

Dasha was watching the shadows by the gate when a red beam of light caught her attention. She followed the stream until it landed square in the middle of Baye's back. She cursed herself for moving away from the Wild Power when she knew this was a possibility.

"Baye! Move!"

Everyone turned in unison, but her warning was too late as she heard a silenced pop. They scrambled to get to the woman in the wheelchair, but it was as if it were in slow motion. It seemed like no one could move fast enough to get across the yard and that it would all be over.

That is until the bullet tore through flesh.

An eerie silence filled the front yard as Shi Yoon stood completely still in front of the wheel chaired woman. Dasha never stopped moving across the grass, barely arriving in time to catch the man as he listed to the side. They fell the ground in a flurry of dust and grass as Ji Hoo slid beside them and started working.

Shi Yoon coughed, blood splurting from his mouth to run down his chin and splatter on Dasha's face. She stared down into his face as she held him up for Ji Hoo and talked incessantly to keep him away. He smiled at her as she spoke about Spain and Greece and the Maldives and children and a Disney movie marathon. They were all things they had done together and would do together in the future when he was healed.

Dasha caught Ji Hoo's eyes over the man's shoulder and the doctor shook his head. She looked back down at the man with a smile. Slowly, he raised his hands and took her face in them. Carefully, he kissed her then slipped back to look at her. He smiled again, his hands shaking as blood dripped off his chin.

"Saranghae," he choked out.

Dasha stared into his face. She watched as the light slowly left his eyes. His hands dropped as he let out a sigh, closed his eyes, and fell forward into her shoulder.

Kang Shi Yoon was dead.

Dasha cradled the man briefly, kissing the side of his head one final time before laying him in the grass. She folded his arms across his belly and mussed his mahogany hair. Blood stained her skin and clothes, but that wasn't the most dangerous thing at the moment.

Power swirled as she stood slowly, lifting dirt and grass in the breeze it created. The shifted wolves lifted their heads and let out a sad and lonesome sound. It was a song that one of their brothers was dead.

Dasha stood silently in the center of the yard. No one dared speak as she watched the burning house. No one saw her move but a guy suddenly slammed into the ground. She stared down at him, the coldest glare anyone had seen being focused to that one man.

Benji didn't have to ask. She and Creed grabbed the man by the wrists and dragged him away.

"Woo Bin." Dasha's voice wasn't her own as she spoke. It was gravelly and thick. Wolfy. "Douse the house. Right now we need complete darkness."

Woo Bin looked at the house, assessing it. "I can't sustain that much power to do that," he argued.

"Trust me." The phrase was weighted, but it spoke volumes to the control this woman had at the moment.

Woo Bin rolled up his sleeves and held out his hands. A huge rain cloud appeared over his head, and he sent it towards the house. It started to rain on the burning building, but it was obvious it wasn't doing any good.

The ground once again rumbled. Everyone looked at Yi Jeong, but the potter shook his head. He wasn't doing anything, but the mulch around the house rose up and hung in the air.

Without preamble, it dropped. Dust flew up in the air, mixing with the smoke and creating a noxious gas that permeated throughout the yard. But the fire was doused with the combination of rain and mulch, and the yard descended into quiet darkness.

"Jeongmin, illuminate only us." Dasha giving orders in a crisis was natural. With ease he didn't feel, Jeongmin followed the order. "Jenissi, P-Goon, Zico, and Taeil, set you packs equidistance apart. Don't let anyone through. Chase them down if you have to."

"We're going to lose lives," Hyuk chattered. "Noona, I'm scared."

"I'd be concerned if you weren't. Trust in me. No one else will die tonight."

"Can you guarantee that?" Ji Hoo asked.

"I'll die making sure of it."

The doctor and Hunter stared at each other for a heated moment. It was then and there that every member of this household respected the woman before them. Crisis and personal loss didn't deter her from saving them. It fueled her anger and made her stronger.

A soft yellow light surrounded them just as the next wave began. Men and women poured over the burnt house. Dasha quickly separated everyone and commanded the front line of Woo Bin, Yi Jeong, Jun Pyo, Donghyun and the twins. Benji had the second line of Creed, Hyuk, Leo, Jeongmin, N, Ravi and Hongbin. The others protected the women and children.

Somewhere in the middle, Woo Bin teamed up with Jun Pyo, Jeongmin, and Donghyun and created a thunderstorm. The winds blew as lightning crashed around them and thunder crashed. But with the four of them teamed up, it left Baye unprotected. She and Yi Jeong were taking turns disrupting the ground so people would fall in sink holes, but she was much farther from the group than she should have been.

Someone had taken the opportunity to go after her. Dasha left her line just as P-Goon and Zico crashed into it and started ripping attackers to shreds. Hot on the heels of the woman, Dasha launched herself through the air and tackled her mere inches from Baye. The woman rolled and Dasha came face to face with the one person she had known would be with this group.

"Bethany," she breathed.

Bethany Scott had been one of their best friends growing up. She hadn't gone through Hunter training but her father had been one of the instructors. She was a Halfling who had done her best to accept her magical ancestors, but somewhere down the road she had lost control of her powers. Her father had sent her to Spain to train and she had disappeared. Dasha now understood who the inside source was.

"The mutt protects the greatest asset this world has ever seen?" Bethany asked. Her voice gave away how far gone she was. Dasha carefully moved foot over foot until she had position herself between Baye and the other woman. "This is the best turn of events ever. Not only do I get to kill the woman who wants to turn our world upside down, but I also get to take out the stain left to live in the world."

Dasha knew this fight was going to be bloody and tough. She unlocked Baye's wheels and gently pushed her backwards into the ring of wolves protecting the women and children. With an explosive burst of energy, she carved out a crater to block them off from the remaining battle raging around them.

Multicolored flames filled in the void, and Dasha turned slightly to see Baye standing with the help of Jeongmin who had fallen back to his wife. He still controlled the lightning as he held his wife. The woman's skin with striped with colors as she held the flames in place.

With a shriek Bethany attacked, drawing Dasha back to the present. Weaponless, all she could do was dodge while Bethany attacked wildly with her sword. Dasha was without her telepathy and a weapon but she wasn't defenseless. Her telekinesis worked in many different yet wonderful ways. Even without having the abilities of Yi Jeong or Woo Bin, she could still control the water and earth almost as proficiently as they could.

Bethany brought her sword down straight across Dasha's chest, but the Hybrid was able to bring a dirt shield up just in time. The blade cleanly cut through the rock, but it saved her from a zipper type gash.

Unfortunately it slowed Dasha's reaction time down a little considering Bethany delivered a well placed kick to the woman's ribs. Dasha tumbled once until she popped up onto her knees, ending her slide just shy of the flames. If Bethany used her unpredictable magic, it was all over. Dasha had to somehow catch the woman off guard.

An idea formed as she was trying to catch her breath. Bethany relied heavily on her sword because her magic was so unpredictable. Looking around, Dasha realized that Bethany was the leader in this instance. She had to be. She was the only one with Maker blood in this whole group. Makers outranked Wild Powers considering they had created them with the magic of the four elements plus the spirit of freedom. Without Bethany, Baye would be in charge.

' _Allow me out, Little Sister.'_

Dasha heard her wolf sister call to her and gave up freely into the predator instinct. Her wolf rarely asked for release but they had fully bonded so it was much easier this time to let go. The wolf would protect her spirit from shattering because of what had to happen. They had made the decision together and this was how it was going to play out.

Bethany had ordered Baye's death but in the process had taken Shi Yoon's life. Dasha could forgive a lot of things, but killing that man was not one of them. She had been serious when she had said she loved that man and would kill for him.

Bethany wailed as she charged once more. Dasha stood her ground even as everyone around her yelled for her to move. That wasn't an option as she watched the smooth metal rise into the air then arc down.

Dasha caught the blade between her hands, but the force of the swing caught her in the shoulder and drug across her chest. She used the momentum to wrench the metal, and with a metallic clack it broke. Bethany shrieked something about how no mortal could destroy the metal made by the Makers before she threw the hilt down and charged. Dasha flipped the end of the metal and just as Bethany reached her, she drove the broken blade into the woman's abdomen and twisted.

Bethany's eyes widened and she looked at Dasha. Cold hatred stared at her as the Hybrid drew her forward.

"The only thing that can kill a Maker in battle is the Maker's own power or something forged by their bloodline," Dasha spat. "You would know that if you hadn't gone bat shit crazy. Even a mutt like me knows that."

She grabbed the dying woman's arm and slung her into the flames. The colors rose higher as Maker magic was returned to Maker design.

Around the ring of fire, the fighting stopped and everyone turned to look. They saw one lonely figure standing victorious but no one knew who it was.

Leo felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. He looked down at Shi Yoon's lifeless body and hoped against hope that he wouldn't have to bury a second body.

The flames dropped just as Baye did and the yard was once again plunged into darkness. The lonely figure strode across the yard slowly, causing everyone to turn to watch.

Dasha stopped in front of Shi Yoon's body and stooped to pick him up. Bloody and bruised, she looked completely fine. But it was her eyes that held a different story. Stormy and white blue, she was not the carefree woman from this morning.

"Hyuk, I need you," she said.

The young man didn't argue as he ran to her side. "What is it, Noona?"

"Take me to New York. I'll show you where we're going."

"Take one of us with you," Jun Pyo advised.

Dasha shook her head. "No. This is Hunter business and I need the element of surprise. I'm going to yank the position from someone and I don't need any help doing it."

Hyuk didn't ask any more questions as he placed his hand on Dasha's arm, and with a pop, they disappeared from the front yard.


	15. Chapter 15

Author's Note: Second to last chapter and I'm still not sure what's going to happen. I know what I want to happen but we all know that can change with a few simple keystrokes. I don't force myself to write things I don't believe in, so I let the characters take me where they will.

I'm thinking of starting a blog, but I'm not sure. It would help me write every day, but I don't know who would read it. It would be a mixture of fanfics and my own personal things I found on Pinterest and whatnot. It may help me become a better writer.

Chapter 16 won't be up until tomorrow because I have a doctor's appointment today and won't want to write until tomorrow.

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The Hunter's High Council met in the most obscure places when they had an urgent meeting. Today was no different. Today they were in the basement of the Empire State Building during a raging thunder storm.

Word had spread like wild fire that the Halflings had gone after the Wild Power and her hoard. The bombing had been covered by the news but for some reason they weren't allowed anywhere near the burning house. It was by someone's power they had been held at bay.

Other than the fire, no news had come from South Korea. No one was talking to anyone. Was the battle still raging? How many had been lost? Were their Hunters safe? Even the ones that had been on the hit list, were they okay? They were the best of the best and the Council had sent others to kill them. There was no way any of them were left alive. Dasha's team was too powerful, too good.

But the worst murmurings were those of Kang Shi Yoon. He had gone to make things right with Dasha and make sure she understood that he wasn't going to be able to be with her. He had been given a leave for thirty-six hours. He had been booked for the flight home that evening. Now would he even get a chance? Was he in danger like the others? He had to be. He was right there.

One man looked around the room nervously. He looked from Council member to Council member in hopes that someone would have some information. Everyone was too concerned with their own lives to care about what he was feeling. He was nervous about what was going on. He had no answers and had no one he could call to get any because the one person who had always been there to give those to him was under attack. He should have known better than to issue that kill order on his final day in this position.

The murmurings became yelling as someone was given some sort of information. Bethany Scott was dead yet the battle still waged. The Spanish heir to the Scott family was dead and so was their line of Maker heritage. The Spanish lineage ended with that woman, leaving the Russian half lineage the only true lineage to those who had created them. There were only two people who had the power to kill anyone of Maker lineage and they were undoubtedly on the front lines.

His hands became sweaty, and no matter how much he rubbed them on his pants leg they were still damp. He had no information but for some reason his heart beat double what it usually did. He had no control. Why was he so upset for no reason?

"Sir, what should be do?" one member asked.

"There's nothing we can do. Our Hunters are more than likely dead," another argued.

"Bethany Scott was not a Hunter. She flunked out after she came into her own. Why did we even team up with her to begin with?" a third asked.

"We gave them half of everything we have for that one piece of contentment." The fourth person looked up at the man in charge. "Sir, we've made a mistake. We sent unequipped people to the front lines to fight a battle they cannot win. The combined powers of the Wild Power and Dasha plus the prowess of your son and Dasha's team, there is no way they will come out victorious. Guerilla warfare does not work on a telepath."

Someone else snorted. "We gave them the psychic distorter. Anyone can take on Dasha Chen now."

The fourth person shook her head. "Dasha was not trained to use only her psychic talents. She can use brute force or compassion as she sees fit. We trained her better than we trained anyone, and she has taken that training to use when she needs it. She is better equipped than all of us who sit in these chairs."

The room descended into silence. They had trained the best of the best since they had been children. When Creed, Dasha, Benji and Shi Yoon had been placed together as kids, no one had dreamed they would form a strong bond that would far surpass anything anyone had ever seen. No one in the history of the Hunters had ever been as close as those four had been. They had used each other's strengths and weaknesses to their advantage. Where one left off the other would pick up the slack. They were such a well-oiled machine everyone had been afraid of what they could do.

So Shi Yoon had been advised to go into management. It had taken a lot of time but he had finally accepted and had gone on to train in that aspect. He still trained just in case they had ever been attacked but he had stayed away from Dasha and Benji.

But no matter how much they pushed, they could not get the two to separate for long. Even sex wasn't an off topic for the two. They had been caught several times together. Most of the time it had been Shi Yoon's mother who wasn't as strict as his father, and she had been very lenient when it had come to finding her son in bed with a woman. Even after his father found out, there wasn't much he could do when his wife pretty much beat him every time he brought it up.

They were so concerned with their discussion no one really heard the indistinguishable pop outside. The door slammed open. No one said a word as they stared at the woman.

Their fears had been confirmed. Shi Yoon had been in the middle of the fight. He had been with Dasha when they had been attacked. But the worst part was what was going on, on the outside than what was in South Korea.

Dasha strode across the room and very gently placed Shi Yoon on the table in front of the group. At first glance, it looked like he was sleeping. But the table was soon red and it dripped on the floor. What was more saddening was the red had spread to Dasha's clothing and skin. There was an obvious wound on her chest but it wasn't the one that had caused all that blood.

"Who sent the group with Bethany Scott?" she demanded. She looked around the room at the men and women assembled but her gaze landed on the one in the dead center.

No one answered her. They were too busy looking at the body on the table. The man at the center slid from his chair and fell to his knees before the deceased man. He reached out to touch him, but Dasha grabbed his hand and held it in a vice grip that no one could break.

"Let go," he muttered, pulling on his arm like an insolent child. "Let go!"

"Why should I?" she asked. There was no give in her voice.

"He's my son!"

Dasha slung his arm away with so much force that he fell backwards. "What kind of father allows an attack when he knows his son is in the area?! Because you sent that crazy woman after Baye, you caused your son to be in the crossfire! He died protecting that woman!"

"He died protecting you!"

She stared down at him, hatred filling her eyes. "You have never seen him protect me. You have never known what he would do for me, and half the stuff he did do, I never asked him. You knew nothing about your son, and you know nothing about the people outside these walls. You claim we're to protect those who can't protect themselves, but all you want is to protect those who have meaning to you. You have no idea what goes on out there."

She snapped her fingers and Hyuk brought her a manila folder. She didn't take it immediately, staring at it sadly. Then without warning she ripped it out of the folder and set it on the pool of blood. It quickly became red.

"This is Shi Yoon's final will. This isn't the original copy. I left that with the lawyer, but it states who he wishes to take his position. Read it."

Everyone waited in silence as Shi Yoon's father picked up the soaked piece of paper and began to read. Dasha looked into the pale, lifeless face of the will's master, wishing desperately that he was there. She didn't want to do what he had requested, but she had trusted and respected this man until his death and she would continue long after he was buried.

"This can't be true," his father muttered. He looked up at her. "He was supposed to get married and have a family so this wouldn't happen. You caused this!"

"I may have caused a lot of things, Kang Yoo Jin, but Shi Yoon's death was not one of them. That will was dated three months ago. He had been planning this long before any of this had been put into action. Nothing you could say or do would change his mind. He was a stubborn ass, but I will respect what he wants. And that includes his funeral."

She went to pick him up but Yoo Jin held her arms to her side. "Don't take him! He's the only child I had. Don't take him."

Dasha hurt just hearing the anguish in his voice, but she didn't have any choice. All of this was in Shi Yoon's will. Whenever they had promised something, they had followed up with that promise. He had asked for her to bury him in Korea and that was what she was going to do.

Slowly she pushed his hands off and picked up Shi Yoon again. She stepped back to Hyuk. The maknae looked at her then slid his hand into the crook of her elbow. Within seconds they were gone.

(&((&(&(&(&(&(&((&

Leo didn't know what was worse. The silence downstairs or the sound of the woman upstairs silently crying to herself.

Dasha and Hyuk had returned and the funeral for Shi Yoon had been arranged. Everyone had been moved to Jun Pyo's residence, but some were sharing a room. They had tried to give Dasha a room, but she had refused. As far as they knew, she hadn't slept since the funeral. They had seen her walking around outside before but no one could recollect if she had slept.

It had been somber since the night of the attack. No one really laughed because they didn't feel like it. Usually this house was full of music and laughter and cutting up. No one was talking about anything. Even the children were unusually quiet.

Baye set about rebuilding their destroyed house. Everything was covered under insurance since it was considered an arson. The house would start being renovated within a week. Hopefully in two months they would be back.

Everything was going according to plan, except helping ease the pain of a certain heartbroken woman. Dasha had hidden out all day in one of the upstairs rooms. No one was sure which one so they couldn't find her.

Leo rounded a corner and saw Hyuk coming out of one room with a tray. He closed the door quietly. He saw Leo and shook his head. He walked by him quietly as he tried to balance the china carefully.

The older man walked to the door then knocked lightly. He wasn't given a reply but he still heard the sniffling that came with crying. He opened the door and walked in. Dasha was sitting against the far wall with her knees drawn up and her face buried in them.

He walked over to her and sat beside her, arms going around her shoulders. She didn't move but she didn't shrug him off either. They sat there for what felt like an eternity unmoving and in the stillness of the room. No one moved outside the door. It was only the two of them and their aching hearts.

He wasn't sure when, but Dasha's tears subsided into small little hiccups. Still Leo sat there. Somewhere in the middle of all of that, her head fell to the left into his shoulder. He didn't move, especially when her breath evened out and she went to sleep. She turned onto her side and wrapped one arm around his waist. Sighing, he rested his cheek against hers, content just being the pillow she needed to recover.


	16. Chapter 16

Author's Note: Final chapter! It took a long time. I think this is the longest it has ever taken me to finish a story. First I had writer's block, then I just didn't want to wrie and finally I didn't have time. It's morning here and I've had enough coffee to get me through this chapter.

It's probably going to be short because I don't have much left to say. No one is going to have a fight or anything like that. That's already been taken care of. Now it's really just telling what happened. I know that's the point of the story, but usually the female character has someone she has to persuade before being with the main male. This isn't the case this time.

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Six Months Later

Baye stared out the window of the fully renovated office and was amazed at everything she actually saw. After the night where her house had been burnt to a crisp, she had put almost all her savings into rebuilding it. It went up and out. There were finally enough rooms for just about everyone. That didn't mean some didn't opt to stay in their own rooms in the extra houses.

But it wasn't the rooms that mattered anymore. Since the night Kang Shi Yoon had died, everyone had spent a little extra time being together. They still fought like they had before the incident, but it was a much more comfortable experience.

The wolves had finally united as one. There weren't three separate entities. They were one pack. And all the Guardians had finally united. The ones who had been outcast were still known as Dark Guardians, but they were treated as equals now. They were finally starting to act like the children and weren't caring who was what.

Though the house was pretty much back to normal, one person had yet to return to himself. Leo had spent two weeks trying to wrap his head around the changes that were coming, but somewhere in the middle of it all he had fallen into silence. He didn't speak now and rarely showed emotion. Both had been normal before but not that he didn't speak at all said he was suffering from PTSD of some sort.

Dasha had left within those two weeks. She had taken a couple of days to deal with Shi Yoon's death before she had silently slipped out the door. She had left Benji, Creed and Jin behind and disappeared. While everyone else had been concerned, the three women had simply helped restore what had been destroyed. Once the house had been renovated, they had moved in and had helped train everyone.

No one had heard from Dasha in six months. She hadn't reached out to any of them, preferring to keep a distance from them it seemed. Too much had happened to her for her to return. But she should have been able to call to tell them why she wasn't coming back. Unfortunately she hadn't. Some of them had tried not to feel betrayed but others hadn't been so successful.

"Baye?" She turned at the sound of Donghyun's voice. He stood calmly in the doorway. "The representative from the Hunter's Council is here."

Baye nodded and pushed backwards. Donghyun stepped back so she could go past him. It wasn't too far to the formal living room where they received all of their formal guests, but she wondered who would be coming.

News had traveled that the Hunter's Council had been going through a major change. Rules had been overturned and new ones had been put in place. Even new Councilors had been appointed. Things had been so hectic that none of the other Councils had known what to say or do. They had all been told that when the time was right a representative would be sent to explain what was going on.

The face she encountered when she came into the living room was warm and inviting, so different from that of the first Councilor she had ever met with. This young man was vibrant and ready to start a new life. Baye suspected he was excited to be able to see changes in the way everyone interacted with each other.

He stood and bowed as soon as she stopped in front of him. Vibrant and respectful. She could get used to that. This kid was going to go far if he kept that attitude.

"Hello, I'm Seo Jin Hwan. I'm the newly appointed representative for the Guardians on the Hunter's Council," he introduced. He was very charismatic as he spoke, almost buzzing out of his seat.

She smiled. "I'm Baye Kwan. This is…" She raised an eyebrow as he waved her off.

"Please excuse my rudeness, but I'd like to try to match names to faces myself. The man to your right is Cha Donghyun, and the one on your left is your husband Kwan Jeongmin. The others are probably out doing something productive."

Donghyun laughed. "Close. They're grocery shopping, which is a warzone in and of itself."

Baye tugged on his sleeve to shut him up then looked back at the man. "What brings you here? Usually we just get a call telling us about the representative."

"As you have probably heard, things have changed drastically in the last six months. The Council has been turned on its head because of its stupidity in the last official account. It turns out the last Head Chancellor made an error in judgment and ordered the death of innocent people that resulted in his son's death. He has since been deposed and the rules have been changed. We are no longer allowed to sign a kill order without sufficient proof of guilt.

"With that being said, the laws have also been changed regarding all the different races. There will always be racists, but the Hunter's Council will protect all races equally. Any Hunter caught disobeying these rules will be discharged immediately," he explained.

Jeongmin snorted a bit. "Sounds like Dasha has been working hard."

"Not just Dasha. We all have. There were many of us who were unhappy with the way things were run. It wasn't always like that, but over the last forty years things had changed drastically. We had always wanted to go back to the way we once had been."

"Speaking of Dasha," Baye said, "what has she been up to lately?"

"Why don't you ask me yourself?"

They all turned at the same time. Dasha stood behind them, long wild curls falling over her shoulders. She was completely different. Her head was held higher than it had been and her shoulders were squared. She looked more at peace than she had when she had been here.

But it was the way she was dressed that spoke volumes. They had seen her in Hunter's gear last time: formfitting black clothes and boots to match. Her hair had been short and a pair of glasses had rested on her head. Now she was dressed in jeans and formfitting shirt that showed all her curves. Actually it was her muscles that were well defined and showed all sorts of scars that only a Hunter would accrue.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Jeongmin muttered. Baye pinched his wrist causing him to jump.

Dasha flicked her gaze at him as she strode across the room. "Did you tell them everything?"

Jin Hwan shook his head. "No, ma'am. I hadn't gotten that far."

Donghyun's smile was knowing as he crossed his arms. "Ma'am?"

The young man turned his attention back to the others. "Dasha has become the new Head Chancellor. She was behind all the radical changes to the Council. It was in Kang Shi Yoon's will that she take over his place in his untimely demise. He couldn't have picked a better person." He smiled up at her, adoration adorning his face.

Dasha popped him in the back of the head. "Stop, Jin Hwan." His smile widened as he rubbed the back of his head. "Where's Leo?"

"He's up in his room. He hasn't said much since you left," Donghyun supplied. "Why did you leave the way you did?"

"I couldn't take any of you with me. It wouldn't be fair so I left to do this work without anyone knowing."

"He may not want to talk to you," Baye said.

Dasha looked at her briefly. Something passed between the two women before Dasha walked out. She didn't even stop as she walked up to the second floor and tossed open the only closed door on the hallway.

Leo looked up when his door slammed open. He felt his mouth drop open as he saw who was standing in his door. N looked at him then quickly excused himself because this wasn't something he had to be a part of.

Dasha watched the man as he slowly stood and made his way over to her. His hands twitched at his sides but he didn't raise them like he wanted. He just stood still in front of her, head lowered because he didn't want to see her eyes.

It was at that moment that she felt like they were in a drama. She was the rich chaebol and he was the poor person who liked her. She had left to do something that would change their lives without telling him. He had every right to be upset with her, but he wasn't going to tell her.

Not that it mattered anyway. Dasha could read his mind if she wanted to. But she respected him enough not to do it. She could tell how he felt just by looking at him.

She took the three steps forward and took him by the collar. Grab would be a better term for it, but Leo's personality was volatile at best. If he thought she was going to hurt him, he would fight back.

She felt his breath rush out as she took his face in her hands. He stared at her with tortured eyes. She smiled at him as she tightened her fingers around his neck.

"Sorry it's taken me so long," she said.

Leo didn't have time to answer as she pulled him forward and kissed him. Shock lasted a brief second before he grabbed her belt loops and pulled her forward.

THE END


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